


Your Villain

by Noonabate (GACKTSMUT)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Magical Boys, Otherworldy U! a/u
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-01-04
Packaged: 2018-05-11 15:34:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5631763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GACKTSMUT/pseuds/Noonabate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Magic has its rules. Real life is a little more complicated.<br/>Chanyeol is a Magical Boy. Kyungsoo is his Watcher. With the two of them pledging into a prestigious fraternity, who whips who into shape is anyone’s guess.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Your Villain

**Author's Note:**

> This work was originally submitted for the OneMoreChansoo fic fest on Livejournal as a three-shot. 
> 
> Warnings: ex-members as major characters, slow character development, threesome

Park Chanyeol was having The Dream again - the same one he had been having on and off for the last six years. The more he had The Dream, the more vivid and detailed it became.

It always started out the same way. 

He was always twelve in The Dream and on his way to a Ferret Club meeting. Sometimes the meeting would be at the school playground, sometimes not. He would get a little lost on the way and would walk for what felt like forever. As soon as he got to where he was supposed to be, his pet ferret would wriggle out of his grasp and start running away. Chanyeol would chase after the ferret, which would lead him into a forest, and down a burrow. 

The burrow was bigger from the inside than how it appeared on the outside, even though the inside kept changing to totally random rooms: his own dorm room, a diner, backstage at the University Auditorium, inside the men’s dressing room at a department store, the Sigma Mu House’s basement, a ballroom. 

This time, it was a library. 

“Excuse me,” Chanyeol said, approaching the librarian at the front desk. The librarian turned around and it was his pet ferret, blinking at him with his little ferret eyes.

It lifted its paw to its lips and shushed Chanyeol. “Shhh –this is a library,” it said.

“Yeah, but-“ Chanyeol started to reason.

“Shhh –this is a library,” the ferret repeated. 

“I’m just trying-“ Chanyeol said, but was stopped again as the ferret held up a scroll in front of his face and with a flourish, shook it out. It unspooled itself over the table and spilled over onto the floor, circling the room. Chanyeol followed the movement of the scroll until it double-backed around the perimeter of the library and back to the floor in front of his feet. When he bent down to examine it, he was holding a quill. 

The Dream always ended the same way, too. 

It ended when Chanyeol signed his name at the end of the scroll as flames burned away the paper and crawled up his hand. Chanyeol never got burned and he never felt scared. Instead, he felt strong like he could do anything and be anything he wanted. 

He always woke up laughing. 

***

“So, who’s Ddori?” 

When Chanyeol opened his eyes, Kris Wu’s face was looming right above his, his expression amused and curious. Kris was Chanyeol’s assigned Big brother at Sigma Mu, the fraternity at which Chanyeol was currently a pledge. Chanyeol’s not-quite-fully-awake brain took a moment to remind itself of the fact that Kris had wound up in Chanyeol’s bed after Bid Night at the start of the semester. Three months into the school year, and Chanyeol still wasn’t over it. It was far too early in the morning and a little too late in the game to decide if sleeping with one’s fraternity Big was an asset or a liability. 

“Huh?” Chanyeol said, trying to get his eyes to focus. Man, Kris was crazy handsome. Kris Wu was a god on campus. He excelled at everything – he was a triple threat times three. He was runway model Paris Fashion Week good-looking, danced really well, and was part of the Sigma Mu Fraternity Acapella Group. On top of all that, he was also a rapper, and a painter. 

Every pledge at Sigma Mu wanted Kris as their Big Brother, but Kris had picked Chanyeol - gangly, bow-legged, jug-eared Chanyeol, who was practically a nobody at school, to be his Little. 

When Kris Wu had picked him out from the batch of pledge hopefuls, it became a game-changer for Chanyeol. This was his chance to be part of the cool group, for once. 

Chanyeol’s freshman year was off to a promising start. SMTown, as the fraternity was known around campus, had a reputation for producing the most talented and handsome members. 

He definitely had the talented half down pat – Chanyeol was a multi-instrumentalist who had been writing his own songs since he was twelve, on top of being a decent singer, an okay dancer, and a rapper that could hold his own at a freestyle battle. 

The handsome half was subject to debate, though. Plus, there was that thing. 

Chanyeol had a secret that he was determined to keep hidden from everyone in SMTown. Hell, he was determined to keep it hidden from everyone in his life. 

“You kept saying that name,” Kris said, bringing Chanyeol’s thoughts back to earth as his leg found its way between Chanyeol’s. “Is she hot? Who’s Ddori?”

“Uh…” Chanyeol said, feeling Kris’s knee nudge his thighs open. “My…ferret?”

Kris let out a laugh, his mouth coming down on Chanyeol’s, lifting the morning haze from his head. On top of being the superstar that Kris was, he was also a most talented kisser. Chanyeol found himself chasing the last kiss with another one. His Big was only too happy to oblige. 

“You’re so kinky,” Kris said, straddling Chanyeol and pinning his arms against the mattress. Chanyeol lifted his hips up against Kris’s and the other boy dipped his head low into the crook of Chanyeol’s neck, growling into his collarbone. 

Chanyeol was so happy that his assigned roommate never showed up at the beginning of the school year. He liked having the room all to himself. Hashtag So Blessed. 

Chanyeol counted his blessings in life as Kris kissed his way down Chanyeol’s body. Kris’s lips were amazing. Chanyeol rested his hands on top of Kris’s head and pushed him lower his body. 

Life was good. 

Life was so good that Chanyeol never even noticed the door inching open and a stranger wearing black from head to toe entering the room. 

The stranger cleared his throat after a few minutes.

Kris turned around to see him standing by the door. “Holy shit!” he said, rolling out of bed onto the floor.

“What the hell?” Chanyeol said, grasping at his sheets to cover himself up. “Who are you? How long have you been standing there?”

Unperturbed, the stranger set his suitcases down in a tidy row at the foot of the vacant bed opposite Chanyeol’s. “Long enough,” he said. “I’m Do Kyungsoo. I’m your roommate.” 

***

A good Watcher is never seen. 

Do Kyungsoo was positive that the scenario he had walked into was not what the Watchers’ Council had in mind when The Watchers’ Five were created. These were the basic rules by which every Watcher, a guardian of magical beings, was supposed to live his life. Given the situation, Kyungsoo had to admit it was still appropriate.

Kyungsoo had walked in on his objective in flagrante delicto, which he found to be a very amusing turn of events. Here he was fresh out of training, a newly minted, full-fledged Watcher with a B.S. in M.S.S. (Magical and Supernatural Sciences) and his first assignment was to enroll as a student majoring in Library Science, which not only sounded dull and unoriginal, but terrifically cliché. 

That, and to facilitate the training of one Class 5 named Park Chanyeol, a prospect that was getting more interesting by the second.

Kyungsoo had reviewed this Park Chanyeol’s dossier upon receiving it two weeks ago. The bio data ticker-taped through Kyungsoo’s head, as he stood unnoticed by the doorway.

Park Chanyeol - 19 years old, 1.85 m tall, 70 kgs. He had one sibling, an older sister. Both parents were still alive. His immediate family members were clear of any criminal record and they owned and operated an Italian restaurant franchise located at the edge of the city. He sounded entirely average and hyper normal on paper.

Kyungsoo had reviewed Chanyeol’s medical documents (unremarkable, except for the sessions with a child psychologist when he was twelve up to fourteen) and school records (below average performance, a D-student with grades bordering on abysmal except for Music), but these provided Kyungsoo very little about who Chanyeol was.

Definitely more interesting and important to a Watcher like Kyungsoo were the details left out from all official reports. For instance, when Park Chanyeol was twelve years old, he came across a creature bearing a magical contract, and that he had signed the said contract. 

This wasn’t on any official record, but Kyungsoo knew this because The Watchers’ Council helped capture the creature once. As for the contract in question, it was never seen again.

Kyungsoo was already gathering new and more valuable information about Park Chanyeol and he’d only just gotten to his dorm two minutes ago. Kyungsoo could already tell that Chanyeol was very loud as well as very demanding. He seemed a little lazy and only too happy to let others do the heavy lifting. He liked routine, but was also eager to try new things. He made a show out of not wanting to do the things he was being told to do, but did them anyway. Once he got into a task, he gave his all, and was relentless in getting it right. He was a quick learner. He liked being praised for a job well done. He had stamina and a lot of energy. And he was limber, impressively flexible.

Another thing that wasn’t on any official record: Park Chanyeol was magical, dangerous and it was Kyungsoo’s job to protect him from himself. 

***

As far as having to adjust to a new roommate, and embarrassing first meeting aside, living with Do Kyungsoo wasn’t half bad. Chanyeol found Kyungsoo easy to live with, albeit somewhat strange.

To an extrovert like Chanyeol, “strange” was defined by not having an active social life. Kyungsoo did not seem to have one as he was always by himself. 

Having a monochromatic clothing scheme was also another way Chanyeol liked to define “strange.” The little dude owned nothing but black in his wardrobe. Sure, there were a lot of pseudo-Goths crawling the university with a penchant for the same color palette, but Chanyeol had a feeling Kyungsoo wasn’t choosing his wardrobe out of a sense of style. 

Laughing to oneself without any apparent reason also put one in the “strange” category. Kyungsoo did this a lot. It was creepy.

At its worst, living with Kyungsoo was like living with the kind of portrait you felt had eyes following you wherever you went. 

Legitimately strange or not, Chanyeol didn’t want to spend too much time worrying about Kyungsoo as he had other things on his mind, such as the upcoming Sigma Mu Showcase, which was V.B.F.D. – Very Big Fucking Deal. 

All the SMTown pledges were required to rehearse for and contribute to the Showcase, but only the most promising ones who were guaranteed to become Sigma Mu brothers were allowed to perform and debut onstage. Chanyeol didn’t want anything screwing up his chances of being included.

He definitely had a lot on his plate what with SMTown stuff, the miserable state of his academic standing and the fact that he had been having The Dream more frequently. When he was younger, he would have The Dream about four times a year at most, but since the beginning of the semester, he was dreaming of that damn ferret almost every week.

On the upside, he always felt refreshed waking up from The Dream, but then he noticed other changes taking place too. Chanyeol noticed he could stay up for days without needing to sleep. While it was true that most college freshmen liked to make this claim; in Chanyeol’s case, it was more than an exaggeration. His batteries lasted longer than average. 

Chanyeol noticed that he had preternaturally warm hands. He could boil water just by holding a mug for a full minute. The discovery had taken him completely by surprise. He had spaced out with a glass of water in his hand when he lifted it to take a sip. Chanyeol felt the water scald his lip, making Chanyeol curse and bang his knee on the edge of his study desk.

“Are you okay?” Kyungsoo had asked him, making Chanyeol jump. He didn’t even notice his roommate had been standing by the door, holding his Pororo toothbrush set, watching him. Kyungsoo had a habit of entering rooms without being noticed, something that Chanyeol tried to take note of. 

“Yeah,” Chanyeol said, pretending everything was okay. “Yeah, sure.”

Kyungsoo walked over to his side of the room. “Fascinating,” he said to himself.

***

“What the hell is all this about?” Kris said, pointing at the tube of BB cream attached to a chain around Chanyeol’s and his co-pledge Oh Sehun’s necks one afternoon at the Sigma Mu house.

“We’re on BB cream pledge,” Sehun said. “Just in case any of you guys need a BB cream touch-up for emergencies.” 

“I bet Baekhyun put you up to this, didn’t he,” Kris said, letting his eyes sweep over Chanyeol’s frame when he thought Sehun wasn’t looking. The tips of Chanyeol’s ears went hot. He loved and hated it when Kris did that.

As if on cue, Sigma Mu’s resident diva came sweeping down the stairs, clapping his hands in command. “BB cream! I need BB cream! You!” he pointed, spotting Sehun by the receiving area as he marched right up to Sehun’s face. Sehun obediently squeezed out a dollop of cream on his fingers to apply immediately.

“Really, Baek?” Kris said, raising an eyebrow at Baekhyun. 

“What?” Baekhyun said as Sehun started patting BB cream on Beakhyun’s forehead, cheeks and chin. “I’m just being practical.” He opened an eye. “In fact you need a touch-up.”

Chanyeol had to nod in agreement.

“Ok,” Kris said. “Well, since I’m already here…” 

Chanyeol popped open the cap off from his own tube of BB Cream and squeezed some out onto his fingers. Kris drew back as if singed when Chanyeol touched his face. “Ow!” he said. “That burns!” 

“Oh, sorry,” Chanyeol said. He tried again on Kris’s other cheek. Kris drew back, his face twisting in clear irritation.

“Ow!” Kris said. “Seriously. It feels like hot oil!” 

Chanyeol snuck a look at his fingers. The tips were red as a poker, and the smear of BB cream that was plopped on it was bubbling over. Chanyeol hid his hand behind his back. Shit, not this again. What do I do?

“Let me see this,” Kris said, inspecting Chanyeol’s tube of BB Cream. “Ugh, Baek. Next time at least get the pledges to go for a decent brand. None of this Nature shit.” 

“It was on a five-plus-one promo!” Baekhyun said.

“I’m gonna wash this crap off,” Kris said. “Chanyeol, can you take my bag up to my room?” 

Chanyeol let Kris ply on him his Tom Brown bag and his gigantic biology textbooks. He left Sehun and Baekhyun in the receiving area trading recommendations for BB cream brands. 

Kris had a solo room in the Sigma Mu house. As a rule, pledges were not allowed to venture to the upper floors, except when their Bigs granted specific permission for them to come up.

Chanyeol set Kris’s things down inside his room and removed the chain with the tube of BB cream from around his neck. Lifting his hand up, Chanyeol saw that the BB cream on his fingers was now charred black. The good news was, the burning sensation was cooling down gradually. 

He heard the door shut behind him, and Chanyeol turned his head to see Kris leaning against the closed door. “So,” he said, with a devil-may-care grin on his handsome features. “How’s your roommate?” 

Chanyeol paled. “Listen, Kris, about that. I didn’t know he was-“ he said, and Kris shook his head, wagging his finger to quiet Chanyeol as he came closer to the other boy. 

“Forget that,” Kris said, a wicked grin spreading over his flawless face. “Let’s just put it behind us, okay?” and he leaned in to give Chanyeol’s lips a soft, yet not-so-innocent kiss. “What time’s your next class?” 

“I’ve got P.E. at five, but otherwise…” Kris didn’t wait for him to finish the sentence as he swept his lips over Chanyeol’s. “You know what, I can skip that.” 

“You can have your P.E. right here,” Kris said, teasing and Chanyeol fought back the urge to roll his eyes. Kris was so corny sometimes when he thought he was being cool. The effect was inexplicably appealing, making Chanyeol want to bite Kris. Chanyeol gently nipped Kris where his collar hit, making Kris groan low in his throat. “By the way,” Kris said, lifting up Chanyeol’s chin with his finger. “Congrats. You made it to the Showcase. The brothers really liked that song you made so we’re putting it in the show. I’m making it official tomorrow at Pledge Night.” 

Pledge Night was the party right before Hell Week, the final stretch of the application that ended with the SMTown Showcase. 

So he had made it! Chanyeol couldn’t believe it. He still felt bad about his roommate walking in on them last time, and he had been worried out of his mind about making the best impression not just to Kris, but to the rest of the SMTown members as well. 

“No!” Chanyeol said, his grin stretching into full teeth-rich mode. “For real?” Kris nodded, giving Chanyeol his most dazzling smile. 

A minute ago, Chanyeol just wanted to make it up to Kris, but now he was determined to give Kris the best sex of his life. Gently pushing his Big onto his back on the bed, Chanyeol proceeded to run his palms up Kris’s thighs through his stylishly ripped jeans as he knelt on the floor between Kris’s legs.

“Hurry. I want your mouth on me,” Kris said, lifting his head up from the mattress to look at Chanyeol. “You’re so hot.” 

Kris helped Chanyeol pull down his zipper. As Kris lifted his hips up off the bed, he pushed down his jeans. Chanyeol tugged them down to Kris’s ankles. Then, Kris unbuttoned his cuffs and lifted the hem of his shirt up to his chest so that it won’t get dirty. Cum stains were a bitch to get off.

Chanyeol reached into Kris’s briefs and pulled out his erection. Kris turned his head to one side, shutting his eyes and hissing at the sensation. His dick throbbed in Chanyeol’s hand. Chanyeol liked the way Kris’s dick leaned into his touch and how soft the skin around the shaft was. The longer Chanyeol stroked it, the harder Kris got. Chanyeol kept his eyes on Kris’s face, taking note of the changes in Kris’s expression. Kris’s eyes were now shut tight, and his hands were clawing at the sheets underneath him. Chanyeol waited for Kris to go quiet so he could hear every breath Kris drew get shallower and shallower. He loved seeing his Big unravel, get thoroughly wrecked.

“Aaaahhh…so hot,” Kris’s voice was a murmur, his head moving from side to side. His thighs began to tremble and lift off the bed, but Chanyeol kept him pinned. He quickened his pace and tightened his grip over Kris. “So hot…Chanyeol…it’s… too hot! It’s too hot! It’s too hot!” 

Kris’s eyes flew open, and he pushed Chanyeol’s hand away. Shooting up from the bed and shoving Chanyeol away from him, Kris started hopping from one foot to the other, cupping his balls. Panic was written all over his face.

Chanyeol didn’t know what the hell just happened. One second he was in the middle of giving Kris the best hand job of his life and the next he was fanning at Kris’s crotch with an SMTown 2013 plastic fan. 

“No! Stop fanning it! Water! I need water!” 

Chanyeol reached for the half-filled water bottle on Kris’s bedside table and splashed its contents over Kris’s crotch. There was a faint “ssssss” sound of something being extinguished just in the nick of time.

“Oh shit oh shit oh shit! I’m so sorry!” Chanyeol said, tearing at his hair. “I’m so, so sorry!” He wanted to help Kris but he didn’t know whether to touch him or not. 

Chanyeol did the only thing else that came to mind: run out the room, speed straight downstairs and rush out the doors of SMTown. 

“Chanyeol! Wait!” Kris shouted after him. “Come back!”

Chanyeol kept running. He didn’t know where he was headed, and he didn’t care. He didn’t even notice that smoke was now coming out from both of his hands. All he wanted was to get as far away as he could from what just happened. He knew that whatever that was back there was his fault, but he didn’t know why. 

***

A good Watcher sees what’s ahead.

Kyungsoo always had his nose buried in books, as he was busy making preparations. Based on his calculations, his Class 5 was about to become a Class 4 very soon. 

The Watchers’ Council had devised classification for The Otherworldly, the collective population of all magical and supernatural beings and creatures known to man, and that included magical girls and boys like Chanyeol, which comprised a tiny fraction of the entire Otherworldly universe.

Class 5 was meant that there were no visible or physical manifestations of magic. It could be argued that most people fell under Class 5, even those who were generally regarded as “non-magical.”

Class 4 was considered a hybrid class. They had full power and consciousness regarding their own nature, but considered themselves wholly human. 

Class 3 was “average” Otherworldy . These beings were magical since birth or creation, did not consider themselves human, but nevertheless had qualities like and/or behaved like them.

Class 2 was a little frightening. These beings often did not behave at all like humans. They did what they liked and did not like to be interfered with.

Class 1 almost never appeared in corporeal form, but their power was tremendous. 

Some beings stayed in only one class their entire lives, but there were others who were able to change from one class to the next. Magical girls and boys had that capacity.

The thing was, Chanyeol had already gone far too long without a Watcher assigned to him. And though Chanyeol’s magical nature had thus far manifested sporadically, it would not be that way for long. The magical manifestations were becoming more apparent and frequent, indicating the end of the chrysalis period, which made Chanyeol very unstable.

It was crunch time for Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo’s objective was to secure a safe space and allow the transformation to happen without Chanyeol harming his own self or others. This was to be done with the aid of a number of spells and a special batch of water called Suho’s Splash, which was fairly easy to make. However, it took awhile to get ready and its preparation was tedious (as some enchantments tended to be, contrary to what many might think.)

Chanyeol was a ticking time bomb about to blow, and Kyungsoo’s next and most critical step was to wait for it to happen.

***

Chanyeol was hurtling through a dense, thick forest – he was going so fast he couldn’t feel his legs touching the ground. What he could feel were the branches snapping into his body and his face as he followed Ddori forward. He didn’t want to lose sight of the animal that was leading him farther into the forest. Stopping was the last thing he wanted to do even though his heart was beating so fast he felt like his chest was going to burst. 

Chanyeol followed Ddori into a burrow. This time, instead of emerging in a room, Chanyeol found himself diving head first into cool, blue water. He didn’t even realize he was burning up from the inside until he felt the shock of water, soaking through his clothes and pulling him in deeper. The temperature of the water surrounding him was inconsistent - warm in some spots and cold in others.

For a second, relief coated him, until he realized he couldn’t see the bottom of where he was and that he was sinking further downward. It also didn’t help that his entire body was covered in blue flame. He was literally burning while he was in water. Fear gripped his heart as he opened his mouth to scream. 

He felt, rather than saw something swimming towards him and he was pushed backward by a force that ran straight into his body. This same force now pulled him up. 

When he opened his eyes, he saw his roommate Kyungsoo’s owl-like eyes gazing into his face. Chanyeol felt strong arms pull him up by the armpits, propelling him to the surface. 

The next thing Chanyeol knew, Kyungsoo was pressing his lips against his. 

Breathe, dumbass, Chanyeol heard Kyungsoo saying in his mind. I am trying to save your life. Chanyeol opened his mouth and gulped in as much air as he could. Minutes went by with Chanyeol breathing in the air that Kyungsoo supplied. 

Breathing turned into kissing. He couldn’t help but notice how soft Kyungsoo’s lips felt against as they exchanged breaths. Chanyeol bit down on Kyungsoo’s lower lip, wrapping an arm around the smaller boy. Just keep breathing, Chanyeol, Kyungsoo’s voice echoed in his mind as Chanyeol was slowly but steadily pulled them both up to the surface. Kissing and breathing became one and the same thing.

Chanyeol noticed that a mark had blossomed over Kyungsoo’s right shoulder and that it was spreading all over his chest and arms. Chanyeol tried to make out the writing, but they were symbols he didn’t understand in the waking world. He watched the symbols fade into Kyungsoo’s skin. 

Chanyeol was compelled to put his lips to the base of Kyungsoo’s throat because dream logic dictated that this was the next step, and that this was what the instruction that Kyungsoo’s body demanded of him. Chanyeol read Kyungsoo’s skin with his lips as they slowly surfaced.

Chanyeol felt his heart slowing down to a normal pace, a feeling of acceptance spreading over him. He felt safe. He felt amazing. He felt powerful. He felt like he could do whatever he wanted. 

That’s when he woke up, laughing like he always did. 

He was wrapped up in blankets like a larva in its own cocoon. He felt incredibly well rested and at peace.

He was also ridiculously hungry. 

“Oh good,” Chanyeol heard his roommate say. “You’re awake.”

Chanyeol gave himself a second before sitting up. Already The Dream was fading. He knew he dreamed of Ddori again, but he felt this time it was different. He tried to chase the memory of what happened next after following the ferret down into the burrow, but there was nothing. 

His mind was a complete blank. 

Chanyeol saw his roommate standing at the foot of his bed, a patient expression on his face. He was dressed in a black turtleneck and black slacks, as per usual. A memory from The Dream flashed in his mind briefly. Did Kyungsoo show up in The Dream? Chanyeol was just about to say something when he got a face full of his own jeans.

"Get dressed. You're buying me breakfast," Kyungsoo said, turning on his heel. 

***

To Chanyeol’s credit, he reacted better than Kyungsoo had expected.

Kyungsoo had trained as a Watcher for moments precisely like this one. He braced himself for rejection and had come prepared with an arsenal of facts to counter possible arguments Chanyeol would have raised against Kyungsoo. 

Chanyeol didn’t even put up a fight, but he couldn’t stop laughing, and crying, for that matter.

Yes, Kyungsoo sounded insane, but what truth wasn’t?

Kyungsoo cleared his throat, confident that he could handle Chanyeol rolling like a buffalo opposite him in the diner booth. He was having some kind of tantrum, but at least the boy hadn’t threatened to call the police on him. 

“I’m sure you have many questions for me,” Kyungsoo said.

“Oh, you’d better believe I’ve got questions,” said Chanyeol, snapping up from his bent-over position on the table. His face was red, streaked with tears and snot like a five-year old. “How about we start with ‘who are you?’”

Kyungsoo licked his lips. “Let’s order first. Maybe carbs will calm you down.”

***

“Oh my god, I love you right now,” Chanyeol said, through a mouth full of pancake and honey-cured bacon. 

“Why? You’re the one springing for the tab,” Kyungsoo said, watching Chanyeol shovel complex carbohydrates into his face. Chanyeol was plowing through his third Big Breakfast Plate. Their table was filled with the detritus of hash browns and sausage links lost in The War of Hungry Magical Boy. 

Their waiter, a freckled boy with lavender hair and a lip ring, sidled up to their booth. “Can I get anything else for you gentlemen?” 

“Can I get a refill, please Minseok?” Kyungsoo said. 

“Andyourmeddyufleaf,” Chanyeol said. 

“Menu, sure,” Minseok said, not flinching. He’d been running the joint for so long he was fluent in all dialects of stuffed face. He’d seen worse. “I’ll be back.”

Chanyeol smiled at Minseok through bulging cheeks. He swallowed before answering Kyungsoo.  
“No, I mean I’m supposed to be on a diet right now.”

“Trust me, you need those carbs,” Kyungsoo said, sipping his black coffee. “You burned a million calories and you slept for one week.” 

Chanyeol choked. “What?” 

“You burned a million calories and slept for one week,” Kyungsoo said. 

“Shit!” Chanyeol said, standing up all of a sudden. “Fuck! What day is it?” I am so dead if it’s-

“Saturday,” Kyungsoo said. “It’s all right, Chanyeol. It’s a normal reaction-“

“Arrrrghhhh!” Chanyeol said, not hearing the rest of what Kyungsoo had to say. “I gotta go.” He reached for his wallet and started pulling out bills. “Sorry, but I gotta run, Kyungsoo. There’s just something I gotta do first, so can we pick this up later?” Rushing to leave, he slid out of the booth and got ready to sprint. He glanced at the wall clock over the counter. “I can still make it to the Showcase!” 

“What in heaven’s name are you talking about?” Kyungsoo said, genuinely confused. 

“The SMTown Showcase!” Chanyeol said. “If I don’t show up, I’m so dead.”

Kyungsoo was trying his best not to be annoyed. Chanyeol had just undergone a complete Class 4 transformation. And less than an hour ago, he had had his identity and his whole sense of being confirmed. There were important changes happening in Chanyeol’s body on a molecular level and all he cared about right now was some college event thing? 

“Do you not realize-“

“Sorry, duty calls!” Chanyeol said, jogging out of the diner. 

Kyungsoo was gobsmacked. What on earth had just happened? He watched Chanyeol make his way across the parking lot towards the bus stop back to the university. There was no way Kyungsoo was letting Chanyeol out of his sight. 

Kyungsoo definitely had his work cut out for him. 

***

All fraternities on campus held their own end-of-semester events, and the SMTown Showcase was one of the university’s most anticipated ones. The show they produced on their own as a fund-raising effort grew to become a ticketed event that was open to the public. Everyone loved SMTown, and the students (as well as some of their fans from outside the university) couldn’t wait to see the fresh new members take center stage for the first time.

Chanyeol showed up backstage at the University Auditorim ten minutes before the show opened, sweat pouring down his face. He spotted Sehun already in costume, clad in a brown Gregorian monk-type robe. Chanyeol waved at Sehun before running towards him.

“Oh my god! Chanyeol hyung!” Sehun said, his face momentarily breaking from its default state of resting bitchiness. “You’re alive!” The younger boy launched himself onto Chanyeol’s body for a relieved hug.

“Of course I am,” Chanyeol said, plastering a grin to his face and willing his heartbeat to slow down a bit. “Where do I get changed?” 

“Hyung, what happened to you?” Sehun said, pulling back from the hug, his expression turning serious. “You had us really worried.” 

Chanyeol made his way over to one side of the dressing room and started rifling through the wardrobe racks for his own costume. So he missed the formal announcement during Pledge Night – he had a legitimate emergency. Kris had already mentioned that Chanyeol was in, hadn’t he? The announcement would have been a mere formality. Chanyeol knew the choreography from start to finish, forwards and backwards. He had written all the rap parts (his and Kris’s) and had even helped with the song’s final arrangements. The Sigma Mu brothers had to let him go onstage! 

Chanyeol started pulling out robes from hangers and holding these up against his body, checking which one would fit. He had missed the final fitting for the stage costumes on top of the announcement, but he was sure he could find an extra robe somewhere. The Sigma Mu brothers were always prepared for any sudden group member lineup changes. 

“Hyung,” Sehun said, tugging on Chanyeol’s hoodie. 

“Not now, Sehun, I gotta go get changed already,” Chanyeol said, brushing off Sehun.

“Chanyeol.”

It was not Sehun who called out this time. It was Kris. In his stage costume and makeup, he was resplendent and intimidating. He looked absolutely godlike with his hair brushed up and freshly retouched a golden shade.  
His tailored blue sequined jacket that sat squarely on his broad shoulders was open at the chest, revealing his strong torso through a thin, body-skimming tank. Tight white jeans hugged his powerful legs. Chanyeol had to take a step back to catch his breath and train of thought. 

Kris's handsome face had a stern expression as he fixed his stare on Chanyeol, waiting for the pledge to start explaining himself. 

"Um...hi," Chanyeol said, wanting to punch himself in the face as soon as he said it. 

Kris opened his mouth to say something, but stopped himself, seeing that another pledge was present. "I'm just glad you're okay," he finally said, his voice tight. 

Relief washed over Chanyeol, making him weak in the knees. "I am so sorry," he said. "I'm not sure I can explain everything right now, but-" 

"Whoah, whoah, whoah!" Byun Baekhyun said, interrupting Chanyeol. Baekhyun swooped in between Chanyeol and Kris, pushing Sehun aside. "What is this?" He flicked his eyes at Chanyeol from head to toe before facing Kris. "What the fuck is this Kris?" Not even waiting for an answer, he turned back to Chanyeol. "What do you think you're doing, Park? Who said you could be here?" 

"Baekhyun," Kris said, without much strength. "Come on. Chanyeol was going to be in the show anyway. I just didn't make the announcement." 

“Your Little Brother here bailed on Hell Week.” Baekhyun's eyes narrowed in a sadistic manner, knowing that there was no way Kris was going to win in an argument against him. 

"What is going on here?" 

All heads turned to face the direction of the latest voice to join the discussion. It was the Sigma Mu Grand Omicron Kim Junmyeon. Junmyeon was a short person, way shorter than Kris, but Kris buckled when Junmyeon stepped in and asserted his authority. He never truly raised his voice, but he was the type who never had to. 

Chanyeol had never come face-to-face with The Grand Omicron. Chanyeol swallowed, sweat now freely dripping down the side of his face. Junmyeon turned to his members Kris and Baekhyun. Baekhyun was first to speak up, and though the expression on his face didn’t change, his tone was more controlled now that he was addressing the Grand Omicron.

“Pledge Park Chanyeol has failed to meet the requirements needed to complete the pledging process,” Baekhyun said, fighting to keep the indignation from his voice. “He has no right to be here pending consensus among active members that he could participate in fraternity activities.” 

Junmyeon looked at Kris, signaling that it was his turn to air his side. “Pledge Park did complete the requirements, save for attendance during Hell Week, but that is because-“ and here he stopped, faltering over what to say next, his eyes sweeping over Chanyeol momentarily. 

“Because?” Junmyeon said, urging Kris to continue. 

“-of a medical emergency,” Kris said. Baekhyun scoffed, outraged, and Junmyeon shot him a look, shutting him up for the meantime. “Pledge Park had a medical emergency. I vouch for him as his Big Brother.” 

Junmyeon considered this before turning to Chanyeol. “Park Chanyeol,” Junmyeon said. “Weren’t you the one who contributed to one of the songs being performed tonight?” 

“Y-yes,” Chanyeol said. 

“And you’re all right to go onstage, considering you’ve had a recent medical emergency?” 

“I’m good to go,” Chanyeol said. 

Junmyeon nodded. “All right,” he said. “I will allow it. Pledge Park Chanyeol will participate in the Showcase.” 

Chanyeol, Kirs and Sehun exhaled in audible relief, while Baekhyun stamped his foot. 

“However,” Junmyeon said, lifting a finger. “He does not advance his status to Sigma Mu member after tonight. The brotherhood will reconvene and review his standing at a later time.” 

Chanyeol shot Kris a confused look. What was Junmyeon saying? Kris nodded at him, reassuring him that this was as good as he would get for the time being. “Thank you, Grand Omicron,” Kris said. 

“You’d better hurry and change then,” Junmyeon said to Chanyeol. “Curtains go up in five minutes.” 

***

Kyungsoo settled into his seat not knowing what to expect from the SMTown Showcase. Around him, girls were holding up banners bearing the names of their favorite SMTown members, excited to see their crushes from the fraternity. Kyungsoo’s expression remained neutral as the house lights dimmed to signal the start of the show, his face and body language belying what was really going through his head as he watched. 

The truth was, the “college event thing” he had been so quick to dismiss earlier was proving to be quite the revelation. Kyungsoo was transfixed by what he was seeing onstage. He had never experienced anything quite like what was in front of his senses at the moment. His small serving of nachos with cheese sauce that he had bought as a snack sat on his lap, untouched. His eyes were glued onto the stage as SMTown did what they were the best at. 

The active members took to the stage in their glittery outfits, and the audience’s screaming intensified to a collective roar. It was as if someone had switched on some button inside their bodies that made them react that way. Kyungsoo remained seated until he could no longer see what was happening onstage. Only then did he stand up. 

The Sigma Mu brothers were dancing to a song entitled “History” – their movements perfectly in sync with each other as they moved as one unit, each member having distinct parts that contributed to the whole. Kyungsoo was blown away by the dancers’ fluid yet powerful movements and he got goose bumps when he heard their voices harmonize. Kyungsoo’s eyes were careful to seek out Chanyeol from those onstage, but he had not been able to spot him so far. 

Kyungsoo felt a thrill punch its way to his gut as a solo ballad was performed after the breathtaking opening number. He hadn’t realized that he had been holding his breath all throughout the song. When it ended, the group of girls next to him chanted “Kim Jongdae! Kim Jongdae!” and behind him someone else lost her mind screaming “CHEEEEEEEENNNNN!” 

Kyungsoo had to give it to the guy. Chen could sing. Kyungsoo felt his thrill dull into a hollow pang as he brushed aside secret wishes that he had long ago decided to stop thinking about. Before his mind started to go into a direction he was sure was not going to be very helpful to his current objective, a familiar voice cut into his thoughts.

“Ayo waddup Krease?” 

Chanyeol onstage, his hair held up by about a million bobby pins. So the big lug made it after all.

“AYO WASSSU-UP?” 

This guy looks familiar, Kyungsoo thought. The person onstage with Chanyeol did a short spin and Kyungsoo went, “Oh! That’s right! Nice ass!” 

The girl to his left poked his side and winked. “Isn’t Kris the best?” 

Chanyeol and Kris volleyed the rap parts of the song. Chanyeol’s voice was a little shaky, and he covered this up by increasing the volume and force of his voice. The girls in the audience were screaming for Kris, but Kyungsoo could tell that Chanyeol had also captivated some of them. Kyungsoo felt a weird mixture of pride and possessiveness. He’s my roommate you know, he found himself thinking, catching himself before he said it out loud again. 

Onstage, some fireworks went off and Kyungsoo jumped. The explosions had also startled Chanyeol and Kyungsoo saw nervousness flicker across his roommate’s face for a second. 

The next number had everyone in one big elaborate dance number. Kyungsoo spotted Chanyeol crouched behind other Sigma Mu brothers in formation and was tempted to cheer for him, but held back. Kyungsoo still had a job to do, after all. He didn’t want to get carried away by the show. He was a professional.

There was not a trace of nervousness on Chanyeol’s face as he took his place onstage. From where Kyungsoo was watching, it looked like the group had formed a tree, with their arms gently swaying above their heads as the music kicked in. The crowd started chanting the members’ names one by one. Chanyeol’s name wasn’t called, but Kyungsoo knew that after tonight, the crowd would definitely start to.

The choreography for the final number was the most complicated one yet, and Kyungsoo had to make sure not be distracted by any other movement onstage. All the dancers onstage were holding light sticks in both hands as long as one’s forearm.  
The dance was going smoothly until Chanyeol did a turn that had him up bumping into one of the members by accident. It disrupted the flow for about two seconds, but the group was able to bring it back to where everyone was supposed to be. 

After the bump, Kyungsoo noticed that Chanyeol’s movements started to lag a second or two later than the rest of the group. An intense look of concentration was on Chanyeol’s face now, his brow furrowed. Kyungsoo felt a telltale tingle run down his spine. He had to be on full alert now. 

More fireworks exploded around the front of the stage and Kyungsoo couldn’t help but feel annoyed this time. Considering he needed a clear view of the stage, the pyrotechnics was distracting. When some of the smoke from the fireworks cleared and Kyungsoo was able to focus on Chanyeol again, he saw a faint, yet distinct orange glow surrounding his roommate that he could not attribute to the stage lighting. The golden aura was getting larger and larger and even more pronounced, and the illumination from the light sticks Chanyeol was holding was growing more and more brilliant.

Oh dear, I must get him off the stage, Kyungsoo thought, making his way through across the seats and into the aisle. I must do something before – 

“Baekhyun!” Kyungsoo heard someone from the audience yelling. “Oh my god! Help! He’s caught fire!” 

***

It was on Youtube in about two minutes. By the end of the weekend, the original uploaded video for “Sigma Mu Showcase Stage Fire” had gotten near half a million views. Other reposted videos were found soon after under titles like “SMTown Fire Guy”. Edits were also posted with Alicia Keys’ “Girl on Fire” as background music.

The story went beyond the university quickly. Naver and Daum searches peaked for #SMTownFireGuy. Netizens were buzzing about it on Pann. 

[+200, -0] Wow, it’s a good thing no one was seriously hurt! Guys, next time please double-check your stage equipment so that it doesn’t happen again! Great show, anyway, as usual! Fighting, SMTown oppas!

[+150, -60] SMTown always puts up a fantastic showcase but this time it just went too far with the effects! Simpler stage is always best!

[+115, -110] BEST SHOWCASE EVER. THE FIRE THING WAS FREAKING AWESOME!!!!

[+109, -50] Lots of cute new pledges joined in this year’s SMTown Showcase! That Byun Baek is always stealing the show, though. How could he be so stupid with the fire and all that? 

[+106, -3] I heard that it wasn’t an accident, and that SMTown meant to do that. To be honest, they’re always pulling stupid, unnecessary shits like that for attention. I wish the university would do something about regulating those types of activities.

[+100, -100] Serves SMTown right. What a bunch of losers. Plus, their so-called fans and supporters are the worst. So immature! 

[+9, -110] If you guys look at the video closely, there is something very weird going on with one of the members/dancers right before that one guy caught fire. Not sure if it’s a camera glitch, or a props malfunction, but super weird.

Kyungsoo closed Chanyeol’s laptop monitor shut. 

“Hey!” Chanyeol said. “I was reading that!” He had been online searching under the #SMTownFireGuy tag for the last three hours and groaning to himself underneath a protective fortress of blankets. 

“You have got to stop,” Kyungsoo said, rolling his eyes. “This isn’t healthy. We have a lot of work to do.”

“You don’t understand!” Chanyeol said, kicking his feet out. “My life is over! Everything I’ve worked for – poof! I was so close! So goddamn close to being cool!”

“You know you’re lucky things didn’t get much worse than singed hair extensions,” Kyungsoo pointed out. 

“Much worse? Much worse?” Chanyeol said, incredulous. “SMTown is a total joke now! A laughingstock! Sigma Mu has become nothing more than a meme! Yeah! The bad kind! And it’s all because of me!” 

“I didn’t realize there was a good kind,” Kyungsoo said, in all honesty. “Chanyeol, your friend could have suffered worse. It was a good thing your members had presence of mind before things got out of control.” It was a good thing I had presence of mind rushing to get you out of there too, he wanted to add. 

Chanyeol snorted. “Yeah, whatever. Byun is not my friend,” he said. He paused, exhausting what he had to say for the moment. Kyungsoo sipped his tea, thoughtful. “So, what do we do now, then?” 

Kyungsoo turned around, carefully set down his teacup on his study desk and pulled out a whiteboard marker from his drawer. Plonking himself down on Chanyeol’s bed, he started drawing tables and charts on the window next to the bed. 

“You’re a mess of a magical boy right now,” Kyungsoo said, not unkindly. “You can barely control your powers that are manifesting more and more frequently at an alarming rate every time you get excited or agitated. Can’t have that, Park. You’ll have to learn what your triggers are so you can direct your energy.” 

Chanyeol’s mind swam as he stared at the other boy drafting out a schedule on the dorm room window. Kyungsoo was muttering more to himself as he made revisions to formulas that only made sense to him. 

“Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol said, momentarily breaking the trance Kyungsoo had put himself under. “Why are you helping me?” 

Kyungsoo looked back at Chanyeol with his penguin eyes. “It’s what I do,” he said. “I mean, it’s my job.” The look on Chanyeol’s face urged him to say more, so Kyungsoo started from where he knew to begin, telling Chanyeol about The Watchers’ Council and other magical beings the Council was pretty much responsible for. Chanyeol listened intently; completely absorbed in everything Kyungsoo was telling him. It was all so new to him, yet so familiar at the same time. 

Kyungsoo knew his secret.

Kyungsoo knew about Ddori, The Dream, personal things Chanyeol had never breathed a word of to anybody for fear that he would be regarded as crazy, a freak. The truth Chanyeol was hearing still sounded unbelievable and crazy, but it made perfect sense. 

“I’m assigned to you,” Kyungsoo said. “I’m your Watcher.”

“Yeah, about that,” Chanyeol said, trying to fit all this inside his brain. “Who gets to decide that? Do either of us have a choice in the matter, even? Obviously, I didn’t get the memo here. Did your name and my name come out from a hat or anything like that? Was that magic, too?” He laughed at how dumb that sounded. 

“The matches are purely clerical,” Kyungsoo said, shrugging. “Sorry to disappoint. Ironically, for a group so concerned with magical matters The Council is just as bureaucratic as any old government institution, hence the delay in the match. We were paired based on a number of factors like age, proximity, background, blood type.” 

“But what if I don’t like you?” Chanyeol suddenly blurted out. “What if we don’t get along?”

Kyungsoo was taken aback. “Well,” he said, stiffening his shoulders. He was careful to answer. “I suppose The Council has to take compatibility into account somehow. I don’t think it’s ever happened, but a request for an assignment transfer can always be justified.” He paused. “I’ll get started on the documentation for you right away,” he said, as he started to raise himself up off from Chanyeol’s bed.

Chanyeol flinched, realizing his mistake. “No, no, that’s not what I meant,” he said, touching Kyungsoo’s knee, urging him to settle back down. The last thing he needed was to alienate the only person that seemed to understand what he was going through. “Sorry. I meant that in a general sense. You’re not so bad, Soo. Hey. Maybe we’ll make a good team.” 

That earned him a genuine smile from Kyungsoo. It was the first time Chanyeol had seen his roommate do that. It made him look so harmless, yet terrifying at the same time.

 

***

 

“I take it back, Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol said, pounding his head on the edge of the desk repeatedly. “I do not like you. Get started on that transfer.” 

Kyungsoo clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “Stop overreacting and answer the problem set, Chanyeol.” 

“Shh! In case you have forgotten, Mr. Do and company. This is a library,” the librarian said. Kyungsoo flushed and then shot Chanyeol one of his death glares. Chanyeol had grown used to them at this point, but he did not argue further.

It had been four months since Chanyeol went from a Class 5 to a Class 4, and in that period, Kyungsoo had proven invaluable to Chanyeol. Kyungsoo was patient and knowledgeable, but he was also a demanding and exacting teacher.

Kyungsoo had formulated a rigorous magical training program for Chanyeol. It hadn’t been easy. Chanyeol had to learn to discipline himself to wake up at the crack of dawn for his morning routine, going through meditation exercises with Kyungsoo to direct his magical energy as well as learning basic spell work. It was challenging, but Chanyeol didn’t mind that part. He was starting to feel stronger and less drained when he used his magic. That was pretty cool. 

However, Kyungsoo had also formulated a magical/real life balance program that required Chanyeol to take all his academics seriously. That part he hated. Chanyeol just didn’t see the point of getting more than a passing grade, which was simply unacceptable to a nerd like Kyungsoo. 

“You know that incantation for summoning Santelmo?” Kyungsoo whispered across the table to his roommate. 

Chanyeol put down his pencil and shot Kyungsoo an interested look. “Yeeeees?” He had been grappling with summoning the fire entity for a couple of weeks now and suspected that Kyungsoo was withholding information on purpose.

“Well,” Kyungsoo began. “Unless you finish answering that problem set, there will be no summoning Santelmo!” he hissed. 

“AHA!” Chanyeol crowed, confirming his suspicions.

“SHHHHH!” The librarian had snapped her pencil in annoyance. 

Kyungsoo counted to ten before resuming his place on his own reading, but not before sticking out his tongue out at his roommate, who was now making a pig face at him. 

Ah, really! This Chanyeol is such a child.

Chanyeol abruptly quit making faces and buried his nose in his textbook. Kyungsoo turned around to look at what had caused the shift in Chanyeol’s mood so he could send “thank you” vibes their way. He spotted Kris Wu and Byun Baekhyun heading out the library together. 

Chanyeol was pretending extra hard to be absorbed in his problem set. He was not over Kris, who had broken up with him before the sem break. Kris and Baekhyun had hooked up right after the Showcase for some reason, being literally burned by Chanyeol the one thing the new couple had in common. 

Kyungsoo knew that pledging Sigma Mu had been important to Chanyeol, but he didn’t know how to open up the topic because getting Chanyeol started on his magical training was far more important, as was getting good grades in all his subjects. However, Kyungsoo didn’t like seeing Chanyeol mope around whenever he bumped into the SMTown guys. It was obvious that it dampened Chanyeol’s spirits, and affected his magical stream of consciousness. 

Kyungsoo needed time to mull things over and to keep on observing, then maybe a solution would start to present itself. After all, a good watcher keeps his eyes open. 

***

Chanyeol, on the other hand was keeping his ears open for developments in SMTown while actively avoiding interaction with its members. The fraternity had done some effective damage control following the incident at the Showcase. Although the video from the event had gone viral, by the start of the semester it hardly even mattered anymore. 

Chanyeol’s co-pledge Oh Sehun had completed the pledging process and was now a Sigma Mu brother, but Chanyeol’s own status within the fraternity was unclear. After the Showcase, Chanyeol had done another disappearing act, so he assumed that he was considered persona non grata at Sigma Mu. 

Throwing himself into magical training with Kyungsoo helped him shift his energies and prevented him from wallowing too long in a puddle of misery. The time off was good in that sense, but on the other hand, training gave him an excuse to avoid what he thought were consequences from what happened at the SMTown Showcase. He knew that the stage mishap was because of him, and because he had no way of explaining all this to Sigma Mu, decided to become shut off from them.

He rationalized that he was taking control of the situation by undergoing magical training with Kyungsoo, especially if that meant not setting other people on fire by accident. 

With the second semester’s pledge cycle beginning once again, it became impossible for Chanyeol to avoid SMTown what with the teasers, banners, flyers and all the bells and whistles the brothers released announcing that the fraternity was once again accepting a new batch of pledges. Seeing the familiar SMTown insignia reminded Chanyeol of his failure, but he was still dying to know whether he could still go back to re-apply and pick up from where he left off. 

Chanyeol had his fingers poised on the keypad on their dorm room door when he realized he was hearing Kyungsoo’s voice from the inside. Singing. The door opened, but his roommate hadn’t noticed Chanyeol coming inside. Kyungsoo had an apron on and a pair of gloves and was mopping the floor. That is, if one could call using the mop’s handle as a mic stand mopping. 

Chanyeol recognized the song. In fact it was one of his favorites to play on guitar. Kyungsoo was singing a Spanish song called “Sabor A Mi” and more surprising than the fact that Kyungsoo knew the lyrics to the song was the fact that he had a really nice voice. It was steady and clear, so that when he did added the occasional curl or runs to the tune, it was thrilling. Chanyeol got goose bumps from Kyungsoo’s voice.

Chanyeol didn’t want to embarrass Kyungsoo in what was obviously a personal and private moment, so he slinked back out and shut the door as quietly as he could. 

He did file away the information for future use, though. 

**  
“Always make sure to seal your summoning circles,” Kyungsoo said, one morning after a magical session. “You need to finish clean, or it could have dire consequences later on. The effects won’t always be immediate, but you’ll definitely feel it. Something will always be a little off at the very least.” 

Chanyeol watched as Kyungsoo sealed the summoning circle with the smoke from a handful of burnt sage. He had tried to summon Santelmo, but failed. The spell required an offering of wood or elements derived from wood, so Chanyeol used paper, but this hadn’t given him the results he wanted. 

“Cheer up,” Kyungsoo said, catching the disappointed expression on Chanyeol’s face. “You’ll get better. The first time isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.” 

This brought a grin to appear over Chanyeol’s face. “You make it sound so sexual,” he said. 

“I never said it wasn’t,” Kyungsoo said, in all seriousness.

***

The roommates’ schedules during that second semester allowed enough time for Chanyeol’s magical course work, regular class study sessions (much to Chanyeol’s dread) and even enough time for the two to hang out with each other. 

Chanyeol didn’t think that Kyungsoo did the whole “hanging out” thing, so Chanyeol tried to introduce the concept more into their dynamic, just to break the ice more. And the more time the pair spent together, the more comfortable Chanyeol became with the idea of having a Watcher in his life. Of course, Chanyeol did everything he could to avoid the study sessions for his regular classes, preferring to concentrate more heavily on the magical aspect of his relationship with Kyungsoo. 

The friendship part was pretty good, also. They soon found themselves falling into regular patterns, and despite the stark differences they had in the habits they kept, discovered they were alike in ways that counted, least of which was their shared takoyaki mania.

“My takoyaki guy is the best,” Chanyeol bragged. “The bonito flakes melt on your tongue, and the takoyaki are always the perfect temperature.” 

“Hah,” Kyungsoo said, unimpressed. “My takoyaki guy is better. The sauce is never too sweet nor is it overly spicy.” 

“I bet you my guy beats your guy,” Chanyeol said. “I bet you 20,000.” 

“I see your 20,000 and raise you 10,000,” Kyungsoo challenged. 

They were walking towards the same takoyaki vendor, so they had to call it a draw.

***

“Oh by the way, can you explain this to me, Chanyeol?” Kyungsoo said, handing Chanyeol a blue examination booklet, crumpled in guilt. “A five? Seriously?” Five was a failing grade. 

Chanyeol grimaced, snatching the blue book from Kyungsoo. He really should have thrown it away when he had the chance, or at least hidden it better. Kyungsoo was scary when he was on truant officer mode. “Aw man, I was gonna drop that class anyway,” he said. He knew it was a lame excuse. “It’s only an elective.” 

“Anime and The Magical Girl,” Kyungsoo said. “Yeah, I know. And you are a magical boy. You’d think you’d fare better in a class like that.” 

“Park Chanyeol.” 

Kim Junmyeon was approaching them. Chanyeol gulped down his half-chewed takoyaki in panic. Kyungsoo stiffened and his eyes widened even more. Junmyeon was impeccably dressed in a cream three-tone argyle sweater and neatly pressed gray pants. His hair was slicked back and his skin was radiant, looking every inch the Grand Omicron of Sigma Mu. He was smiling right at Chanyeol, but his eyes landed on Kyungsoo when he got much closer. He paused to give the other boy a smile. Kyungsoo’s mouth was opened slighty, but he caught himself and looked away abruptly.

“I was wondering what had happened to you,” Junmyeon said. “How are you, Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol flinched from Kyungsoo not-so-subtly kicking his shin. “Good!” he said, trying not to wince. “I’ve been good.” 

“Stop by SMTown sometime,” Junmyeon said. “We miss you. Will you at least consider it?” 

Chanyeol could hardly believe his ears. Kim Joonmyeon personally inviting him back to SMTown? This was simply too good to be true. “I will!” he said, having trouble keeping the incredulity from his voice. 

“Good,” Junmyeon said. He did not look back when he turned to leave.

“Do you know who that was?” Kyungsoo said, after the Grand Omicron had left. There was awe in his voice, which was rather rare because very few things impressed Kyungsoo.

“I know!” Chanyeol said, raising his hands up. “Kim Joonmyeon! Can you believe that?” 

“Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo said, trying to keep the excitement from his voice. “Do you not realize who he is?” 

“Of course I do! What are you talking about? He’s only the most important person in Sigma Mu!” 

Kyungsoo shook his head slowly. “Have you gotten started on the readings I assigned you three weeks ago on The Prophecy of the Two Planes?” 

“Not now, Kyungsoo!” Chanyeol said, waving his hand dismissively. “First I need to figure out what to do about Junmyeon’s invitation-“ 

Kyungsoo banged his fist on the takoyaki food truck’s counter, making the whole vehicle shake. Their favorite takoyaki guy shot Kyungsoo a dark look. Kyungsoo could be really forceful when he wanted to be. 

“This is about Joonmyeon’s invitation dammit!” he said. “You’re not listening to me!” 

“Okay, okay,” Chanyeol said. “Take it easy, Soo. I’m listening.” 

Kyungsoo steadied his breathing and took a drink from his can of cider before continuing. “Had you read the pages I’ve assigned for you to read, then you would have known that you had just been talking to an Otherworldly Class 2. Kim Junmyeon is a demigod, Chanyeol.” 

Chanyeol’s mouth opened and closed until he resembled some sort of goldfish. He was aware of The Watcher classifications and what that meant. He had no words. He already knew Kim Junmyeon’s greatness and stature as a human being, but now he had to deal with the fact that Junmyeon was really a Class 2? He felt more out of his depth than ever.

“That,” Kyungsoo said, trying to find the appropriate words to convey his wonder. “Was. Completely. Unexpected.” A bubble of incredulous laughter erupted from his diminutive frame, sending startled glances from pedestrians their way. “Suho. Here. Posing as a student.” 

For a full minute both boys tended to their own thoughts and takoyaki balls.

“So I guess that means I have to re-pledge then, won’t I?” Chanyeol said, uncertain about the larger implications of being personally invited by a Class 2. He was on shaky ground. He was still getting the hang of the nuances of magic, but he was guessing that surely it had to be rude to turn down an invitation from the magical equivalent of a sunbae?

“Are you joking right now?” Kyunsoo said. “Now you absolutely must make an appearance. When someone like that summons you, you must-“

“Turn up,” Chanyeol said. “I got it.” He chewed on his lip for a second. Then he had a brainstorm. “What if you came with me, though?” 

“I beg your pardon?” Kyungsoo said. 

“I’m serious,” Chanyeol said. The more he thought about it, the more it sounded like a good idea. “What if you pledged with me, Soo?” 

“What nonsense. Why on earth would I want to do that?” Kyungsoo said, feigning distaste, trying to sound detached.

Chanyeol stared at Kyungsoo as if he was the stupid one in the relationship. “Come on, Soo. You said it yourself. Joonmyeon – Suho – or whoever he is – is a pretty big deal, right? Well now you have the chance to get up close and personal with a Class 2. I’m sure that will be an impressive asset to add to your resume.”

“Suho is a demigod who has the power to summon water,” Kyungsoo sighed. “Truly you are hopeless, Chanyeol. I don’t know how I do what I do for so little compensation.” He shook his head, though he had to admit the idea was tempting.

“Come on, it’ll be fun!” Chanyeol said, stomping his feet in the way that Kyungsoo found very childish. Kyungsoo snorted and rolled his eyes. 

Chanyeol suddenly leaned forward so that he was closer to Kyungsoo and lowered his voice. If nerdy supernatural fun was not going to do the trick, it was time to pull out the big guns. 

“Don’t try to tell me you can’t meet the requirements, either. I know you can sing. I know you want to.”

Now it was Kyungsoo’s turn to resemble a goldfish. “How…how…” he said, unable to finish the thought. He stared down at his feet, not meeting Chanyeol’s eyes.

“Oh, would you relax?” Chanyeol said, his grin extending from ear to ear. “You know all of my deepest darkest secrets and you’re afraid I know you sing?” When Kyungsoo failed to come back at him with a clever answer, Chanyeol knew he had won, sort of. 

Kyungsoo cleared his throat. “Well,” he said, considering his words carefully. “I suppose if I do pledge Sigma Mu with you, then it’d be easier for me to do my job.”

Chanyeol snapped his fingers and pointed at Kyungsoo. “Now you’re getting it!” he grinned, nodding. “That settles it, then, Soo. You’re coming with me. We’re going to SMTown!” 

When Kyungsoo looked up, he was smiling his crazy smile, the one that made his mouth look like a heart with teeth. He was laughing his weird creepy laugh. “I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?” 

“Shut up,” Chanyeol said. “You’re gonna love it.” 

***

First on the agenda was to find some new clothes for Kyungsoo. Chanyeol decided that it wouldn’t do for his roommate to pledge Sigma Mu with what he usually wore because everything he owned was black. And it wasn’t even stylish or flattering black. It was just basic blah black. 

“I think this is a waste of time, Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo said, as he changed out of his clothing inside the dressing room in the men’s section of SPAO. Chanyeol had selected a bunch of preppy outfits for Kyungsoo to try and would not take no for an answer.

“Payback’s a bitch, my good Watcher friend,” Chanyeol said. “I’m helping you fulfill your own fate just as you’d helped me with mine.” 

“That is not the same and you know it,” Kyungsoo said, stepping out of the stall. He sighed, presenting himself to Chanyeol. “How do I look?” Kyungsoo was wearing a striped yellow and blue rugby shirt over blue jeans.

Chanyeol’s hand went to his mouth as he muffled his delight. “Oh my gosh!” he said. “Look at you! Who could ever guess that you could look so…so…” he struggled to find the perfect word to describe his roommate. “…squishy?!” Chanyeol was bouncing on the balls of his feet, very much pleased with his styling abilities. He felt so proud.

Kyungsoo stepped around to get closer to a mirror to see what he looked like. What was this “squishy” nonsense about? When he caught a glimpse of himself on the mirror, he had to admit that he looked…younger. It was a refreshing look.

Chanyeol came up behind him. “See? You are very cute,” Chanyeol said, matter-of-factly, placing his hands on Kyungsoo’s shoulders. “It’s just that you hide everything under all that doom and gloom. Now people can see how your face lights up when you wear a different color.”

“Clothing is one thing I prefer not to have to think about,” Kyungsoo said in his defense. “Not having to think of what I put on my body saves me a lot of time to get more things done.” 

Chanyeol wasn’t paying attention, as usual. He was busy fluffing up Kyungsoo’s hair and rambling about what hairstyle would suit him. “Stop that!” Kyungsoo said, battling away Chanyeol’s hand. 

Chanyeol stuck out his tongue at Kyungsoo’s reflection then reached over to keep fluffing Kyungsoo’s hair. Kyungsoo ducked, and Chanyeol grabbed him by the waist, tickling him, causing Kyungsoo to fall over on the department store carpet. He lay down on the floor with Chanyeol pinning him down in a mock half Nelson. “Uncle! Uncle!” Kyungsoo cried. “Help!” 

Chanyeol eased up on Kyungsoo, but that was a mistake because as soon as he loosened his grip, the smaller boy was somehow able to reverse their positions so that Chanyeol was now the one pinned under the smaller boy’s knee. 

“Ouch! Ow!” Chanyeol yelped. “I’m sorry, Kyungsoo! Please forgive me!” he said, half-laughing, half-begging. He never saw that coming. He had underestimated how strong Kyungsoo was. 

When Kyungsoo finally let him go, Chanyeol wondered what else he might have underestimated about his roommate. 

***  
“What about her?” Chanyeol said, discreetly pointing out a girl with resting bitchface. They were playing a game called Magical Folks. Chanyeol would randomly point out any person and Kyungsoo would tell him if they were magical or not. If they were, Chanyeol would have to guess which class they belonged to. The rule was that Kyungsoo had to be honest about who was magical and who was not. “Green dress. Hook nose.”

Kyungsoo craned his neck and glanced outside the window. They were in their favorite diner, Deer and Goalie, where Kyungsoo had outed Chanyeol to himself. “Hm,” he said. “Definitely.” 

“Really!” Chanyeol said. Sometimes the most normal looking ones were the most unexpected magical folk. “Class 3?” 

“Nope.”

“Class 4?”

“Uh-uh.”

“Huh,” Chanyeol said, rubbing his chin. “Class 5, then.” 

“Nope.” Kyungsoo said, smiling slighty. The girl in green entered the diner.

“No shit, that girl’s a 2?” Chanyeol said, lowering his voice to a whisper-shout. “What is she, then?”

“Vengeance demon,” Kyungsoo said. “She’s in my major subjects.” He raised his eyebrows in greeting as the girl in green walked past their booth. “Hello, Taeyeon noona. How are you?” The vengeance demon smiled. 

Their waiter, Minseok appeared bringing their orders. His hair was colored a shock of pink now, and he had new piercings in his ear. “Hey, guys,” he said, setting down their food. “Here you go. The house salad for you,” he said to Kyungsoo. “Dressing on the side. And a shitload of complex carbs for you,” he said to Chanyeol, who was rubbing his hands together in excitement. “Can I get you anything else?”

“We’re good for now, Minseok,” Kyungsoo said. “Oh, I almost forgot to give you this,” reaching inside his jacket pocket, Kyungsoo pulled out a small cloth bag tied with ribbon and handed it to Minseok, who took it gratefully before holding it up to his nose and inhaling. 

“Thanks, Soo,” Minseok said, dropping the bag inside his apron pocket. “Owe you one.” He glanced at Chanyeol and shot him a conspiratorial look before attending to another table. 

“Was that…” Chanyeol said. “Was that legal?”

Kyungsoo was digging into his greens. He frowned. He should have ordered something heavier. The shopping was more tiring than he thought. “Was what legal?”

“Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol said, still whisper-shouting. “Are you a drug dealer?”

“I’ll have you know that Minseok is a Class 3,” Kyungsoo said, by way of explanation. “And I just gave him some catnip. He’s a cat hybrid.” 

“Are you on a first-name basis with all the magical folk in the area?” Chanyeol said. “And here I thought you were completely without a social life.” He imagined Kyungsoo having study dates with Class 3’s on Wednesdays and choir practice with Class 2’s on Fridays. Suddenly Kyungsoo didn’t seem to be the anti-social nerd Chanyeol once perceived him to be.

“No,” Kyungsoo said, though Chanyeol had a hunch his roommate was simply being modest. “I mean, Junmyeon didn’t recognize me. But that’s because he’s really old. Like Ancient Aliens old.” 

“Oh,” Chanyeol said. Sometimes talking to Kyungsoo tended to bring up more questions than answers. 

***  
“Well, well, well,” Byun Baekyun said, his words slightly slurred. The rush party at SMTown had just started but Baekhyun was already sloshed. “And so you’re back from outer space.”

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol said, nodding. He couldn’t afford not to be civil. He was just a pledge, after all. Worse – he was a returning pledge, someone who couldn’t cut it the first time around so that he had to extend his pledge cycle for a second term. It was humiliating. Sigma Mu didn’t do returning pledges, as far as he knew. Either you got in or you didn’t. 

Baekyun smiled and draped himself over Chanyeol, who stiffened. Beside him, Kyungsoo pressed close. This was his first ever college party, and he promised himself he wouldn’t get drunk. He even downloaded and laminated a chart to help him keep track of the alcohol he would imbibe that night. He discreetly felt around his back pocket to make sure it was there. Check. 

“Oh, look,” Baekyun said, noticing Kyungsoo for the first time. “You brought a friend. Hello there, Chanyeol’s friend. I’m Baekhyun. What’s yours?” 

“There you are!” Kris said, appearing in time to save all parties from an awkward situation. His hand came up to massage his boyfriend’s neck. Chanyeol thought that as usual, Kris looked amazing. He was wearing a black Givenchy suit textured with tiny teal and pink dots, cutting a gorgeous silhouette on his tall frame. 

Kyungsoo on the other hand, thought Kris’s hair had seen better days. His hair was gelled and teased all over one side of his head in what appeared to be some kind of 1980s New Romantics throwback hairdo. Or hair don’t. Kyungsoo may not have been the party-going type, but he knew enough not to make comments about a fraternity member’s fashion choices, especially not one from a frat in which one wanted to pledge. Instead, Kyungsoo shot Chanyeol a look that he hoped clearly said, This is stupid.

“Listen, listen, listen,” Baekyun said, letting go of Chanyeol and wrapping his arm around Kris’s waist. “I just want you to know,” he pointed to Chanyeol. “That I know what you did last semester.”

“Baek,” Kris said in a warning tone, his hand tightening over his shoulder. “Come on, babe. Let’s go sit down.”

“No!” Baekhyun said, refusing to be led away. “I’m talking to Park Chanyeol here. Park Chanyeol? Your former Little?” He made quotation marks in the air.

Kris shot Chanyeol an apologetic look and shrugged. Chanyeol pretended not see it. As far as Chanyeol was concerned – Kris has made his bed. Now he had to lie in it. 

“But I also want you to know,” Baekhyun continued. “That I forgive you. I forgive you, Chanyeol! Because in the end, I got this-“ and here he grabbed Kris’s face and squeezed his cheeks between his fingers. “-gorgeous man to finally sleep with me. I have been throwing myself at him-“ Baekhyun’s drink spilled from his plastic cup, Chanyeol sidestepped in time to avoid being covered in cranberry vodka punch. “-but he never did give me the time of day. Until you set me on fire during the Showcase!” 

“Ooookay, that’s enough!” Kris said, bodily lifting his very drunk boyfriend away from Chanyeol. He nodded to Chanyeol and Kyungsoo both before leaving. “Gentlemen.”

Chanyeol lifted his beer bottle in a mock toast. 

“Pssst,” Kyungsoo said, poking Chanyeol in the ribs. “When can we leave?” 

“What? We just got here,” Chanyeol said, shoving a beer into Kyungsoo’s hand. “Loosen up, Soo. Hey, it’s your first college party! All right!” he clinked his bottle with Kyungsoo’s. 

“Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo said, setting down the beer back down on the kitchen counter. “All I want to do is sing. Maybe go onstage and perform. When do we get to do that?” 

Chanyeol put an arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “You know how I started out as a Class 5? Well that’s pretty much where we‘re at frat-wise. We’re at the very bottom of the barrel. The singing comes much later. Consider this part of the training, Soo.” 

Kyungsoo looked around him. There were drunken people everywhere. Granted, they were very good-looking normal non-magical people. But they were drunk all the same. He was out of his depth. Give me a room full of snobbish Class 2’s anytime over this lot. 

“I’m going to need something stronger than a beer to get me through tonight,” he said, admitting defeat.

Chanyeol ladled him a cup full of cranberry vodka punch. “Welcome to SMTown.” 

***

Not wanting to be a burden to Chanyeol, Kyungsoo eventually made an attempt to venture out on his own during the party. He just had to warm up for a bit with a cup or two more of that cranberry vodka punch drink. 

“Are you sure you’ll be okay, though?” Chanyeol said, concern lining his forehead. He felt responsible for his Watcher. Kyungsoo always had his back, after all. Chanyeol felt it only fair he should at least have Kyungsoo’s when it came to non-magical, real-life matters like college parties. 

Kyungsoo shooed him away. “Go mingle,” he said. “As long as I have some more of this delicious punch and my handy-dandy alcohol chart, I shall be all right. Maybe I’ll go talk to that guy over there,” he pointed with his chin to a sleepy-eyed guy that he noticed had been making eyes at him all night. 

Chanyeol tried to make out which guy Kyungsoo was referring to. “Well he’s not an active member,” he said. “He must also be pledging.” He slapped Kyungsoo’s shoulder for luck. “I’ll try not to set things on fire. There’s Sehun. I’ll catch you later. You look cute by the way.” 

Even though Kyungsoo had encouraged Chanyeol to mingle at the party, he could feel his roommate’s eyes on him at several points throughout the night. Sometimes when they caught each other’s eyes, Chanyeol would give Kyungsoo a questioning thumbs’ up just to make sure the other was doing okay. 

It was actually very sweet.

“Who’s that guy that keeps looking at you?” the guy with the sleepy eyes said. Kyungsoo found out his name was Jongin, and he was also thinking about pledging Sigma Mu. They were having a nice conversation, him and Jongin, the dance major. Jongin was telling Kyungsoo about his three pet poodles. 

Kyungsoo squinted and found Chanyeol looking over at Jongin and him from across the room.

“That’s my roommate Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo said. “He’s just looking out for me, don’t worry about him.” 

“Oh, okay,” Jongin said. “Sure he’s not your boyfriend?” 

Kyungsoo smiled up at Jongin. He was really cute, and Kyungsoo was pretty sure he had misplaced his handy-dandy alcohol chart. But who cared about that? Who cared when he was at his first ever college party talking to a really nice, really cute guy and for once he could just let loose and be normal? He found himself toying with the material on Jongin’s shirt, tugging him closer. 

“No,” Kyungsoo said, as Jongin leaned in to kiss him. “Absolutely not.” 

***

Kyungsoo was a virgin, but he had never felt burdened by his lack of sexual experience. It just wasn’t that important or interesting to him. The previous dearth of available options was also a factor. In hindsight, none of his fellow Watcher trainees had been particularly, to use Chanyeol’s term, fuckable, so he never truly considered his sex life as something to be preoccupied with. Besides, whenever he felt the need to relieve a little stress, Kyungsoo had no problem taking matters into his own hands, so to speak. He just didn’t think of anybody specific when he did. 

In fact, Kyungsoo didn’t even know if he had a type, though he wasn’t close-minded about being attracted to either sex, be they magical or non-magical. Cognitively he knew what made an attractive person just like anyone else, but that’s as far as his own appreciation for someone’s beauty went. 

But as they say, there’s a first time for everything, even for Watchers. 

And though Jongin was not Kyungsoo’s first kiss, Kyungsoo felt as though an entire other world was opening up to him. It was very different from the Otherworld that he was used to, and it was blowing his mind. 

Kyungsoo liked the way Jongin tasted – a heady brew of the by-now familiar cranberry vodka punch and something else – a sweetness Kyungsoo wasn’t able to identify, a flavor that became more potent as their kiss deepened. Kyungsoo wanted more of it, and it was obvious that Jongin did, too. 

So Kyungsoo did what came naturally. The two found themselves stumbling out of the party, giggling and making out and trying to make it back to Kyungsoo’s dorm room.

None of this escaped Chanyeol, who, while he was generally glad his weirdo of a roommate was stepping out of his comfort zone, was also feeling quite possessive. “Hey, Sehun,” he said. “Mind if I crashed on your couch for the night?” 

***  
Kyungsoo was a lights-off kind of guy. Luckily, so was Jongin.

The two boys fumbled over each other as they kissed in the dark, their only light source coming from the street lamps outside the window. Kyungsoo loved the way the shadows moved over their skin as pieces of clothing came off from their bodies. They hardly said a word to each other since leaving the Sigma Mu house, but their movements were in perfect sync as they touched. 

Jongin felt so good against Kyungsoo’s body that he wanted to feel more of him, quickly. Kyungsoo’s hands moved to grab Jongin’s ass as he trailed kisses down the taller boy’s neck. 

“Whoah, whoah. Hey,” Jongin said, bucking into Kyungsoo’s hands, slightly falling forward on his toes. He put both hands over Kyungsoo’s shoulders to steady his balance. Kyungsoo could feel Jongin’s warm, sugary breath over the tip of his ear, and the vibrations of Jongin’s voice and he shivered. “Hyung, take it easy. I’m not going anywhere else tonight. Okay?” Kyungsoo could sense that Jongin was smiling in the darkness, and he found this terribly, incredibly, painfully arousing. 

Kyungsoo groaned, leaning his head against Jongin’s chest, letting out an embarrassed little laugh. “I just…want you so much.” 

Jongin responded by dipping his head low to catch Kyungsoo’s lips in a heated kiss, picking up on Kyungsoo’s pace finally. 

Kyungsoo realized right then that he was capable of starting fires of his own.

 

**  
“Hey Soo, wanna go grab some takoyaki after the pledge orientation later?” Chanyeol said, shrugging into his jacket. 

Kyungsoo looked up from his smart phone. “Can’t,” he said. “Made plans with Jongin to pick out a present for his niece.” 

Jongin? 

“Who?” Chanyeol said, his leg frozen in mid-motion as he was about to step into his shoes. 

“You know,” Kyungsoo said, tucking his phone carefully away inside his jacket pocket. “From the party?” 

“You guys are friends now?” Chanyeol said. This was surprising. The party was a full week ago, but this was the first time Kyungsoo had made mention of the boy at the party after Chanyeol saw the two of them leaving the Sigma Mu house. Chanyeol figured that it hadn’t worked out between them and did not pry. 

“He’s nice. I like him,” Kyungsoo said. “Why don’t you come with us later?” 

“Uh, no thanks Soo,” Chanyeol said. “I’m not into being the third wheel.” 

The walk to the Sigma Mu house was a little uncomfortable for Chanyeol. He became hyper aware of every time Kyungsoo pulled out his phone from his jacket pocket to check his messages. 

When they got to the meeting, Jongin was already there. He spotted Kyungsoo right away and waved at him. Kyungsoo made his way to where Jongin was sitting, Chanyeol following on his heels.

“I saved you a seat,” Jongin said, giving Kyungsoo a bright smile. There was only one vacant seat next to Jongin. 

Of course.

Kyungsoo had the decency to look conflicted, at least. 

Chanyeol surveyed the room and failed to see any other vacant seats on the row. “I’ll just stay back over there,” he said, shuffling towards the back of the room, feeling a little dumb.

It was bad enough that Chanyeol was attending the pledge meeting for a second time, but he felt worse having to sit, or rather stand at the back of the room through it alone. Kyungsoo pledging had been Chanyeol’s idea. Kyungsoo wouldn’t even be at SMTown if it weren’t for Chanyeol. So how come he was the one who felt out-of-place?

***  
The Sigma Mu brothers had accepted Chanyeol back as a probationary member, owing to his significant contributions to the previous semester’s various activities, the biggest of these being the SMTown Showcase, which broke the fraternity’s record for Most Trending Event of the Year. Chanyeol could barely believe that what he perceived to be the biggest disaster of the year was actually what would help him make it. Chanyeol suspected that the fraternity felt guilty for letting a pledge handle “faulty” props. 

As a probationary member, he still needed to go through the entire pledging process with the new pledge class. He was also stripped of the privileges of having a Big Brother. The relief on both Chanyeol’s and Baekhyun’s faces when this was announced went by unnoticed to everyone except Kyungsoo, who caught himself before he laughed out loud. The next announcement wasn’t as funny – Baekhyun had been assigned as Kyungsoo’s Big. 

Chanyeol was already familiar with the pledging process, having gone through it almost to the very end last semester. It was a process that started out easy – pledges running around, going out of their way to be nice to the active members, becoming their personal assistants; until it got progressively more difficult, tedious and stressful – preparing for the SMTown Showcase with only two hours of sleep in between. In the back of Chanyeol’s mind was a tiny speck of doubt that he might once again fail. 

Things are different now, Chanyeol thought. I’ve got Kyungsoo. What could go wrong? His eyes landed on Kyungsoo and Jongin with their heads bent close to each other, whispering, and Chanyeol’s stomach did a little flip.

**  
“Jongdae’s birthday is on August 21?” Jongin said, the tip of his finger touching the center of his bottom lip. He did this every time he was unsure. Kyungsoo found it very adorable. Chanyeol thought it made him look like a male bimbo.

“September 21,” Kyungsoo and Chanyeol said at the same time. Kyungsoo shot Chanyeol a sharp look because the way Chanyeol answered came out way harsher than Jongin’s question deserved. 

“Oops, sorry” Jongin said, brushing off Chanyeol’s tone. Jongin crossed out the information he had in his notepad and wrote in the correct date.

This pabo doesn’t know what he’s getting into, Chanyeol thought, shaking his head to himself. He considered the interview phase of the pledge cycle to be the easiest one, but if Jongin was already struggling with the active members’ birthdates, then how much more would he have trouble with keeping up when Hell Week kicked off? 

Chanyeol didn’t want any of these pledges slowing him down and ruining his chances of getting into SMTown. He had already been given a second chance, and he couldn’t afford having anything or anyone getting in his way. 

“And he has one older brother?” Jongin said. 

There he goes again with that damn finger. “Ya, Jongin-ah,” Chanyeol said. “Maybe you should go and ask Jongdae himself. I mean that is what we’re supposed to be doing for the interviews, isn’t it?” 

That earned Chanyeol Kyungsoo’s worst death glare yet. Chanyeol knew not to mess with Kyungoo when he activated his death glares, so this shut him up. At least he was able to get one good remark in. 

Jongin put away his notebook inside his bag, sufficiently chastised. He didn’t get why Chanyeol was acting so annoyed with him. “Sorry, hyung,” he said. “You’re right. I’ll look for Jongdae first.” 

“I’ll go with you, Jongin,” Kyungsoo said, turning to leave with the other boy. 

Great. 

**  
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on with you?” Kyungsoo said, confronting Chanyeol later in the evening. 

Chanyeol took his time flossing his teeth before turning towards his roommate, who had been watching him by the bathroom door. Let him wait and watch. That’s his job anyway. “Nope,” Chanyeol said, after pretending to think. “Don’t think so.”

“Well you’re not acting like yourself,” Kyungsoo said. 

“Oh, really?” Chanyeol said. “And you would know, right? Because you know everything about me.” Chanyeol strode out of the bathroom, intentionally bumping into Kyungsoo on the way out. 

Chanyeol didn’t care to discuss “what was going on” as it was fairly obvious anyway. If Kyungsoo was what he said he was, then he shouldn’t have any problems figuring it out on his own. Besides, Chanyeol hardly had the vocabulary with which to fully articulate what he was feeling, not that he needed a lot of words to convey the jealousy he felt. 

Punching his pillow harder than was necessary, Chanyeol chose to ignore his roommate boring holes into his skull. Don’t look at Kyungsoo. Don’t look at Kyungsoo. Don’t look at Kyungsoo. Chanyeol shut off his bedside lamp and turned so that he was facing the wall. 

He never asked for help. He never asked for Kyungsoo to appear and flip his life around. Kyungsoo knew everything about Chanyeol, and it didn’t seem fair that Kyungsoo had all these secrets. The Watchers’ Council. The singing. The fact that Kyungsoo was physically stronger than Chanyeol. Jongin. 

Jongin.

That last one was really doing Chanyeol’s head in. Why had finding out about Jongin matter so much? Shouldn’t he be happy for his roommate? Shouldn’t he be glad that Kyungsoo had an actual life that went beyond his work? 

Chanyeol felt his chest turn to glass. Guess that was really what he was to Kyungsoo at the end of the day. 

Work.

***  
Chanyeol decided to give Kyungsoo some space while he figured out how to deal. If Kyungsoo needed to come after him because of Watcher duties, he was free to do so. The fact that Kyungsoo stopped pestering him about his grades drove the knife inside Chanyeol’s chest even deeper.

Chanyeol set off to further his magical training without Kyungsoo’s supervision. They still did the regular rounds in the morning, but he didn’t tell his roommate he was devoting extra time to magic on his own. He was determined to summon Santelmo without Kyungsoo’s help.

The first time he had tried to summon Santelmo with paper he had failed. He decided to change tack this time. Unwrapping a bunch of chopsticks to form a small circle around himself, Chanyeol started whispering the incantations. 

Usually when Chanyeol was in the zone, he lost track of time, which was why a Watcher was necessary. Sometimes what felt like mere seconds really were minutes, and minutes easily flowed into hours without Chanyeol noticing. He was not sure how long he had been sitting inside his summoning circle, but it didn’t feel like very long when he felt a warm breeze ghost over his face. 

When Chanyeol opened his eyes, a blue ball of flame was floating right in front of his face, bouncing in air. 

“Holy sheesh,” Chanyeol whispered. Santelmo. 

Before he could do more, the flame suddenly surged forward, knocking Chanyeol onto his back on the ground. It ricocheted around his head for a bit before disappearing to a point in the horizon. 

It took Chanyeol a few minutes to recover. He stared up at the star-filled sky and laughed. Holy shit. That was wild.

He had done it! He had summoned Santelmo. On his own, no less! He couldn’t wait to tell Kyungsoo. 

Oh yeah. I’m mad at Kyungsoo. Never mind. He took a few moments to catch his breath before stepping out of the summoning circle.

It sucked that the only person who would appreciate the accomplishment was someone he wasn’t really speaking to at the moment.

**  
Chanyeol had to admit that there was some satisfaction to be had at seeing Kyungsoo suffer at the hands of Byun Baekhyun, and vice versa. 

Baekhyun was a bossy bitch, for sure, and he took total advantage of Kyungsoo, who came in especially handy when it came to academic matters. The SMTown member wasted no time in getting Kyungsoo to encode his term papers for him, which Kyungsoo did without complaint. 

However, Baekhyun had underestimated that Kyungsoo was also quite capable of exacting his own brand of evil, and that he could away with it, too. 

“Master Baek,” Kyungsoo said, approaching Baekhyun holding court over a few SMTown brothers after Monday assembly. “Here is your Soc Sci paper. You had two thousand seven hundred typographical errors, and twenty factual errors.” The active members that were present snickered. Baekhyun shot them all a look, and they pretended to shut up. 

“Very good, Pledge Do,” Baekhyun said, with gritted teeth, snatching his term paper from Kyungsoo. “Is there anything else?” 

“You also have a bit of lettuce stuck between your teeth,” Kyungsoo said. The active members erupted in laughter. 

“Well Kyungsoo is on an Honesty Pledge,” Jongdae said, his eyes crinkling with mirth. He loved seeing Baekhyun get ticked off. It was just so much fun. “You can’t fault a pledge for doing what he’s told.”

“And your shirt is so last season,” Kyungsoo added, his face not changing expression. 

“Not to mention a Fashion Police Pledge,” Jongdae said, tears streaming down his cheeks. “That’s your favorite, isn’t it, Baek?” 

“It is not!” Baekhyun said in indignation. “Did Kris put you up to this?” 

“Hahaha Satansoo got you there!” Jongdae said, wiping his eyes. 

Satansoo. 

Kyungsoo liked the sound of that. 

**  
Ugh, could things possibly get any worse?

For the upcoming SMTown Showcase, Chanyeol once again volunteered to compose an original song to be performed. It was decided that Jongdae would sing it, and Jongdae asked Kyungsoo to help him rehearse. Though he tried not to show it, Chanyeol was glad that Kyungsoo was pulling his own weight in SMTown. The active members seemed to like him. 

Chanyeol’s happy mood was dampened somewhat when the active members voted Jongin to be in charge of the choreography for Chanyeol’s song. Worse, Jongin was even being considered for the solo stage, being Sehun’s understudy. The thought of Jongin dancing onstage to Chanyeol’s song while Kyungsoo sang it was a little too much for Chanyeol’s poor brain to fathom.

Meanwhile, Kyungsoo noticed that Chanyeol’s concentration was off as of late. Kyungsoo was used to him being unfocused about school matters, but when it came to magic and his SMTown responsibilities, he was always a hundred percent. Midterms were over, and Kyungsoo was feeling confident that Chanyeol would not be getting lower than a passing grade of three.

Being fully aware of Chanyeol’s capacity and tolerance for all things academic, Kyungsoo had resigned himself into accepting that Chanyeol getting a three in his subjects was perfectly well and good, so it was a conscious decision on Kyungoo’s part to stop being on Chanyeol’s case about his grades. In fact, getting all three’s was actually a big improvement, as half the semester was done and Chanyeol had yet to drop a single subject. 

However, Chanyeol refused to speak to Kyungsoo outside of their regular magical sessions, and whenever he did, Chanyeol always kept it civil, refusing to look directly at Kyungsoo when they had no choice but to interact. They stopped doing non-magical things together. They even attended Sigma Mu meetings separately, and tried to stay out of each other’s way inside their room.

Kyungsoo didn’t like it. As Chanyeol’s Watcher, he had always strived to keep the nature of their relationship professional, but the detached attitude Chanyeol now displayed towards him didn’t feel good. It didn’t feel right.

Kyungsoo had to admit that he missed Chanyeol. Jongin was lovely, and Kyungsoo was very fond of him, but it was difficult not being able to discuss magic. 

Also he missed the times when Chanyeol would start horsing around and playing rough with him like some big, dumb, drooling puppy. Jongin just wasn’t like that with Kyungsoo. 

“But I don’t want to hurt you, hyung,” Jongin said, genuinely confused at what Kyungsoo was asking of him. 

“I’m not asking you to hurt me, Jongin,” Kyungsoo said. “Sometimes it’s just…” 

Jongin leaned his chin on Kyungsoo’s shoulder as he wrapped an arm around Kyungsoo’s waist. Jongin was so pure and ironically, that’s what hurt more.

Kyungsoo turned his head to kiss Jongin on the tip of his nose. “Never mind,” he said.

So while Kyungsoo was happy he was being given a chance to make it to the SMTown Showcase, singing Chanyeol’s original song no less, he was also a little worried about Jongin being pulled into the situation. 

Things were bound to get messy, and Kyungsoo had no choice but to see things through because A Good Watcher never looks away. 

**  
“Welcome to Hell Week, gentlemen,” Baekhyun said, enjoying every bit of his little spiel. He was even holding a damn megaphone. It was 6AM, and the entire SMTown pledge class had found themselves waking up to the clatter and cacophony brought on by the Sigma Mu brothers in the SMTown basement, where it was cold, drafty and dirty from the partying that went on the night before. There were a dozen of them from the current pledge class crammed side by side on the basement floor. “I see this pledge class is all present. Very good.” Here, he made sure to look at Chanyeol, who resisted the urge to flip off the active member. 

Chanyeol, Kyungsoo and Jongin were among the pledge class that had made it this far. After weeks of countless member interviews, tasks and personal errands run on behalf of the Sigma Mu brothers, the pledges were on the final stretch to becoming members. 

Chanyeol had no idea what to expect this time since he slept right through the most critical week of his life last semester. It felt like a lifetime ago. Knowing what he now knew about himself and his abilities, he now understood why it has been relatively easy for him to run around on the least amount of sleep. Chanyeol understood that he could do it again, but also that he needed to be careful, less he combust a second time and overcompensate on rest at the last, and most crucial minute. 

He had learned his lesson. 

Kris stepped in and took over from Baek to announce the rules of Hell Week. All pledges were to sleep by batches in designated areas inside the Sigma Mu house until the Showcase. The pledges would now be identified by this batch name until the end of Hell Week. 

Baekhyun was smiling at him, which meant bad news. Kyungsoo had an awful feeling he knew what it was. 

He was right. Chanyeol, Kyungsoo and Jongin were put in the same batch and were assigned to sleep in the basement for the rest of the week. Their batch name was the 929394 line.

“You will sleep together, shower together, eat together and rehearse together for one week until the Showcase,” Kris said, his voice loud and clear around the basement. “In between rehearsals, we, the active members reserve the right to make you do anything we want you to do. And I mean anything.” Chanyeol could feel Kris’s eyes on him, but he only looked straight ahead. 

“Don’t worry, pledges. If you’re good, we’ll be very, very good,” Jongdae said, his tone deceptively friendly. “But if you’re bad, you can make sure that we will be worse.” 

The others were herded back upstairs after everyone was made to surrender their smartphones. “You will be notified should there be an emergency,” Kris said. “All you have to do is trust us and you will be fine.” 

“The 929394 line will be in charge of basement cleanup,” Kris said. “We will check on you at the end of the day. If it is up to standard, you will be rewarded with a quick shower and dinner. If not, well, good luck gentlemen.” 

Baekhyun started handing out the cleaning implements to the 929394 line. Chanyeol and Kyungsoo’s eyes met in their shared hatred for the member. This was the first time in weeks they had actually looked at each other. 

Baekhyun smirked at both. “Well, now. Don’t say I never did anything for you.” 

**  
Fucking Byun Baekhyun. Really - fuck that asshole. What the fuck did he know? Now I’m fucking stuck-

“So are you simply not going to talk to me for the rest of the week or what?” Kyungsoo said, after about two hours of being ignored by Chanyeol, who was busy wiping down the greasy basement floor on his hands and knees in a rhythm that was known only to him.

-in here for a week with these two, goddammit. I swear to fuck when I get out of here and I finally become a member, I am gonna- 

“We need to settle this,” Kyungsoo said, again, this time, standing directly over him. “Are you listening to me?” 

-smash Byun Baekhyun’s smug face in with my fist. Hell, I am gonna set his ass on fire is what I’m gonna do!  
“Chanyeol!” 

Chanyeol threw down the dirty rag he was using to wipe down the basement floor and stretched up to his full height. “What do you want from me, Kyungsoo?” 

Kyungsoo held his ground against the taller boy. “Look, we are stuck here until the end of the week whether you like it or not,” Kyungsoo said, establishing their immediate reality for the next few days. “And I intend to make the best of it. You should too. Ignoring me or Jongin is not going to make our situation any better. We have to work together. That is the whole point of this exercise.” 

Jongin was listening from his spot at the opposite end of the basement. He had been clearing away the detritus of the previous night’s party and dumping the trash into garbage bags. He dared not get involved, whatever was going on between the two of them, but he agreed with Kyungsoo. They had to make it work as a team if they wanted to make it to the end of Hell Week. His role was not to take sides and make things worse, but to do whatever was required of him so that they all made it out worthy of becoming members. That was the important thing. 

He decided to take it one day at a time. 

**  
The 929394 line finished cleaning the basement just before midnight. The floor was spotless and shiny, there was not a trace of dirt or dust anywhere, and all storage boxes were sorted and re-organized. All the grime and dirt that covered the basement covered the 929394 line, who stood in a row with their foreheads against the wall as their work was being inspected by the Sigma Mu brothers.

The inspection crew was comprised of Kyungsoo and Jongin’s Bigs – Baekhyun and Taemin, as well as older active members Key and Jonghyun. 

“Mediocre work at best, but it’ll do,” Key said in a bored voice. 

“These guys have it so easy,” Jonghyun said. He clucked his tongue. “Get cleaned up before dinner, pledges.”

“You will get two hours of rest after dinner. At 0200 hours, you are expected at rehearsal. That will be held at the dance studio on the second floor,” Taemin said. “Rehearsal starts at 0200 sharp. Any pledge that is late will be asked to leave.”

The 929394 line listened for footsteps climbing back up. Then they heard Baekhyun’s voice from the top of the stairs. “You get five minutes total in the first floor shower. Place all your dirty clothes in the laundry bag that will be given to you. Change into the tracksuits provided for you then join your pledge class for dinner in the dining room. Time starts now.”

**

All pledges were assigned use of one bathroom on the first floor, which had a tiny shower stall and no hot water. The only way any batch was going to make the five-minute time limit was if they showered together at the same time. There was no question about it. It was not a time to be shy about doing things. They just needed to get it done. 

At least when it came to that, Chanyeol, Kyungsoo and Jongin were of a single mind. 

Wordlessly, and efficiently, they stripped off the filthy clothes they had been wearing since the previous night and stuffed them all in the laundry bag given to them before they entered the bathroom. 

Chanyeol turned on the shower, stepped in and made room for the other two. The water was freezing. Chanyeol turned the water on full blast. He spotted a detachable showerhead and thought that might make things go more quickly in terms of water distribution because he was the tallest. As for the water temperature, Chanyeol was confident he could do something about that, too.

When the water hit Kyungsoo’s and Jongin’s skin, it was already a more comfortable temperature. Jongin gave an appreciative groan and allowed himself the small luxury of closing his eyes. Kyungsoo shot Chanyeol a brief grateful smile. Chanyeol returned it with a small, rueful one. 

It was a start. 

**  
After a quick dinner with the entire pledge class, the members distributed empty brown boxes among the pledges to be used as makeshift cots for them to sleep on. The pledges were given two hours of sleep until they had to wake up for rehearsals. They needed to get up and go through the dance numbers included in the SMTown Showcase, regardless of whether they were included in the final dance lineup or not. 

The basement floor was freezing cold, but Chanyeol was once again able to make it a more tolerable temperature. 

“Don’t over exert yourself,” Kyungsoo told Chanyeol. “We have six more days of this plus rehearsals.”

“I got this,” Chanyeol said. “I’m not even at quarter capacity.” 

Even though Jongin had no idea what his batch mates were talking about, he was relieved to hear Kyungsoo and Chanyeol talking to each other. 

It was Jongin who woke them up twenty minutes before rehearsals. Chanyeol was naturally pissed because he wanted his twenty minutes more for sleep.

“Hyungs,” Jongin said, ignoring the grumpy giant. “Please. We need to get up and warm up before rehearsals. They won’t give us time to do that when we get to the studio and it’s not good for dance.” 

The kid had a very good point. The members wouldn’t care about warm-up when the pledges were specifically told that rehearsal began at 2AM. They were expected to show up and hit the ground running, or more accurately, dancing. On this, they knew that they had to defer to the dancer in their group. 

“Okay, Jongin,” Chanyeol said. “You’re in charge.” 

**

Jongin’s strategy worked. Among the other batches, the 929394 line was better adjusted to keep up with the dance movements as they were able to warm up properly. They lessened the risk of getting muscle cramps that might slow everybody’s progress down. 

Neither Chanyeol nor Kyungsoo were natural dancers, but because Jongin took the time to demonstrate the choreography slowly and repeatedly to both, they were able to understand the movements better. Jongin proved to be a very patient teacher to the two non-dancers. 

In between the non-stop rehearsal schedules, the members liked to randomly pull out pledges to recite song lyrics from the SMTown Showcase catalogue. Anybody that messed up the lyrics had to sing the song from the top while doing push-ups. 

The days bled into one long, never-ending day, indistinguishable from the last. The pledges were not allowed to change clothes from the tracksuits they were provided from their first communal shower. 

Kyungsoo was monitoring Chanyeol, making sure he was conserving energy. He was insistent that Chanyeol regulate his sleep, despite the other’s preternatural endurance. As much as possible, Kyungsoo did not want Chanyeol using magic because they ran the risk of having Chanyeol burn out too soon. 

Towards the end of Hell Week, Kyungsoo awoke to the basement awash in a bluish glow. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he realized that he seeing a rather large flame hovering over Chanyeol’s chest. 

Santelmo. 

“Chanyeol, wake up!” Kyungsoo said. What was Santelmo doing here? This only meant that at some point Chanyeol was able to summon it by himself. “Get up NOW!”

Chanyeol and Jongin roused from sleep. Jongin audibly gasped. “What…what’s happening?” he sounded very small and scared. 

“Oh my god!” Chanyeol said. This was not good.

“What did you do, Chanyeol?” Kyungsoo said. 

“Santelmo!” Chanyeol said, not sure what was going on. “But-“

“Did you seal the summoning circle?” Kyungsoo said as they watched the flame start dancing around the room, getting considerably bigger as it moved across the room. 

Chanyeol tried to think back to when he summoned Santelmo on his own a few weeks back and whether he finished the spell cleanly or not. Damn it. I did, didn’t I? How could I not have?

“Fuck.” The color drained from Chanyeol’s face, telling Kyungsoo everything he needed to know.

“Jongin,” Kyungsoo said, keeping his voice calm. “Run up to the kitchen and grab me the entire spice rack. Do it now.” 

The boy didn’t need to be told twice and ran upstairs to the kitchen. 

“Chanyeol, you will need to send Santelmo back,” Kyungsoo said. “The longer it stays here, the more of your energy it will have to feed off on. It will drain you.” 

Abashed, Chanyeol realized that Kyungsoo was right. Damn it. How could he have been so irresponsible?

Jongin came back down with the supplies, and Kyungsoo quickly set off to create a summoning circle. After a cursory inspection of the spice rack, Kyungsoo was able to find some crushed sage and some salt. He set those aside. It wasn’t the best option, but it would have to do. 

Grabbing one of the box-cots, Kyungsoo started tearing it up. Chanyeol sprung into action to help. Meanwhile, Jongin still didn’t understand what it was they were doing and why, but he jumped in nonetheless to make the task go faster. When they had ripped the box to more manageable shreds, Kyungsoo arranged them in a pile in the center of the room. 

“I hope to the gods this is acceptable,” he said. 

Next, Kyungsoo started sprinkling crushed sage on the floor, forming crude symbols around the shredded pieces of box. Chanyeol was ready with the salt, which he carefully poured out into a circle surrounding the symbols. 

“Do your stuff,” Kyungsoo said to Chanyeol when he finished closing the circle. “Try not to get drained, okay?” 

Jongin was going crazy. He could only hide behind Kyungsoo and watch the proceedings. He wasn’t familiar with the type of pledge task whatever this was. Jongin wasn’t sure if this was all a dream or if he and his batch mates had finally lost their minds from Hell Week. But surely it wasn’t his imagination if all three of them were experiencing the same thing? Unless it was some form of mass hysteria. Yes, that had to be it! 

It was too scary to watch. After a few minutes of Chanyeol whispering to himself, the blue flame slowed its movement around the room and started approaching the circle. Then, for a terrifying split second, Jongin felt as though the whole room’s air pressure compressed around them. He felt dizzy, as though the room’s dimensions had flipped over. But just as quickly as the feeling had come, it had vanished and the atmosphere in the basement went back to normal. 

He looked down towards the circle. The sage had burned into fine white ash, as had the pieces of box. That, along with the circle of salt was all that was left. Jongin had been holding his breath, but something told him it was all over now. 

Then Chanyeol fainted. 

**

Chanyeol was tearing through a blur of green, his eyes focused on the creature that was dashing through the aisles of books. 

Ddori. You’re always a few feet ahead of me, dammit.

Chanyeol kept moving through the maze of books, exiting into a vast empty room without a ceiling. The ferret was nowhere to be found, but he came face to face with Kyungsoo, who was waiting for him in the center of the clearing.

“Did you see it?” Chanyeol said. “It came around here.” 

“We’ll find it together,” Kyungsoo said. “You and me.”

Tears sprang into Chanyeol’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Kyungsoo,” he said. He had wanted to say that for a while now. “I’m really, really sorry. Please don’t leave me.”

Kyungsoo reached for his hands and held them tight. 

Chanyeol heard a loud rumble over his head. Water rushed down over him, submerging him and Kyungsoo completely. He discovered the force of the water had not separated Kyungsoo from him. Their hands were still clasped together. 

Swimming towards each other, and coming together in a kiss felt right. Chanyeol clung tight to Kyungsoo as they steadily made their way to the surface. 

Chanyeol felt overwhelmed with calm. The water felt so good, so cool. He felt recharged. He started laughing. 

**

Chanyeol shot up, gasping with laughter. Kyungsoo and Jongin were on either side of him, waiting for him to wake up. He saw their faces and suddenly remembered where he was. 

He also remembered every tiny detail about the dream he just had. 

“What day is it?” he said. “What time is it?” 

Kyungsoo was visibly relieved. “You passed out for about a minute,” he said. “How are you feeling?” 

“Thirsty,” Chanyeol said. Jongin got up to fetch Chanyeol some water. Chanyeol spotted the remnants of the sealed summoning circle in the middle of the basement. “It’s gone, right? We sent it back?” 

Kyungsoo nodded. “You damn fool,” he said, though there was no venom in his tone. “What did I tell you about finishing clean?”

“I’m so, so sorry, Soo,” Chanyeol said, lowering his head. “For being so careless.” He hoped Kyungsoo understood that he meant more than just with the spell. He was sorry for being a careless and selfish person in general. 

“I need to apologize to you, too,” Kyungsoo said. “I have also been selfish.” 

“No-“ 

“Yes,” Kyungsoo said. “I don’t do people very well, Chanyeol. Arcane matters are easier for me to manage because I know what to expect if I study hard enough. Magic has its rules. Real life is a little more complicated.” 

Before Kyungsoo could say more, Chanyeol reached over and pulled Kyungsoo to him, enclosing his lips with his. He needed to make sure the kiss would feel the same in real life. When he felt Kyungsoo kiss him back, he felt his heart burst into flowers. 

When they broke apart, Kyungsoo gave Chanyeol a real smile, the heart-shaped one. Chanyeol had never been so glad to see it in his life. 

Jongin came back with some water and handed it to Chanyeol. “Are you all right, hyung?” he said, crouching back down to the floor. 

“I’m fine, Jongin, thank you,” Chanyeol said. “I’m sorry if I was a dick before.” 

Jongin shot Kyungsoo a confused look. Then a smile broke out on his handsome features. “Yay! Does that mean you and Kyungsoo hyung are friends again?” 

Jongin really was too pure for this earth. 

**

Nobody knew what to expect on the day before the Showcase or how Hell Week was going to end, but on the morning before the Showcase, the pledges were made to shower and change into plain gray robes. Then, they were led into a study room where they found stacks of blank notebooks arranged neatly on the table at the front of the room. 

“Throughout this period,” It was one of the older active members, Onew speaking. “We have asked you to get to know us, the active members, the brothers of Sigma Mu. Whether through interviews or just being around us, we hoped that you were able to take note of the information that we have supplied to you.

“Your final test,” he went on. “Would be to write down all the personal information of all active members in alphabetical order in these notebooks. The information you supply will have to be complete and without erasure. We will come back in eight hours to check your answers.” He paused. “Gentlemen, please note that any mistakes made in your final submission will deem you ineligible to continue forward with Sigma Mu.” 

A low murmur rumbled through the pledge class. Onew signaled for quiet. 

“Work as one,” he said. “That’s all we can tell you.” 

**  
Kyungsoo took charge of the pledge class, dividing the work into sections. This was the fastest way he could think of to accomplish the task. He assigned A-E to one batch, E-J to the next, and so on until all letters were covered. Kyungsoo’s mind was a database, and he knew there was not a member whose information he did not have. All they had to do as a pledge class was to help each other getting everything down manually. 

Kyungsoo directed everyone to take down the information in shifts per batch. As soon as they established the routine, everyone hunkered down to the task. 

Eight hours went by in a flick of an eye. The floor of the study became littered with torn out pages from mistakes made. 

The pledges finished with five minutes to spare. The notebooks were then passed forward to Kyungsoo, who made one final do-over. When he had verified the contents, he had stacked the notebooks in a neat column on the table at the front. 

At the end of the allocated eight hours, the pledges were made to stand up in a row facing the wall. Assigned to check the final submission were Kim Jongdae and Kris Wu. 

Minutes passed. Kim Jongdae gave the thumbs-up. Shortly, Kris Wu gave his own thumbs-up. 

When the pledges were asked to turn around, they found the active members holding lit candles, casting a soft light around the room. Each and every one of them was smiling. They all looked like angels, even Byun Baekhyun. They started singing the SMTown anthem. 

Chanyeol’s heart swelled with pride. 

When the singing ended, Kim Junmyeon entered the study. 

“Gentlemen,” he said, smiling. “I am pleased to formally welcome our new brothers to Sigma Mu.” 

The study erupted in cheers. 

**  
Article: SMTown Second Semester Showcase

[+972, -2] OMG! Was that the BEST SMTown Showcase ever or what? I’m so glad I was able to get tickets because I missed the show last time. REALLY wonderful new members debuted – look out for Jongin – the one who did the solo on the B stage for the new song, “Baby Don’t Cry”! He broke my bias list!

[+700, -4] My favorite new member is Do Kyungsoo. HIS VOICE. My god! It melted the panties right off me.

[+500, -300] That new member Chanyeol is ugly-cutie, don’t you think? 

**  
“Congratulations, Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol said, as they walked back to their dorm after the Showcase. He was exhausted, but he was still feeling all kinds of high coming from the events of the week. What a week. He didn’t know how they got through it, but they did. And here they were. Official members of Sigma Mu. 

“Congratulations, Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo said. 

They bumped fists. 

“So, what now, my dear Watcher? What does our day look like tomorrow? New summoning spells? Crystals cleansing? Lay-lines trekking?” 

“I say we take the rest of the weekend off to sleep in before the Induction Ball,” Kyungsoo said. “Watcher’s orders.” 

Chanyeol draped an arm over Kyungsoo. “Well, then I won’t argue with that.” 

“Hyungs!” 

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo turned to see Jongin running down the path towards them. 

“That Jongin really is too cute, isn’t he?” Chanyeol said.

“The cutest,” Kyungsoo agreed, nodding. 

Jongin was breathless by the time he caught up to them. “I was looking for you guys! Were you going to leave me?” He puffed out his lower lip in a slight pout. 

“Never,” Chanyeol said, gesturing for Jongin to join them. 

**  
It seemed surreal to the three that just a few days ago, they had found themselves in a similar situation. When they had stripped off their clothes to shower together, they had done so mechanically, perfunctorily. There was no need and certainly no time to pause and appreciate the skin on each other’s bodies, unlike now, when they had nothing to look forward to for the moment but some well-deserved rest. 

Though Chanyeol found it quite scandalous to discover that his quiet, meticulous and disciplined Watcher would be excited by the very real possibility of a threesome, he couldn’t call it unexpected. Somehow it was always the quiet ones, after all. 

Chanyeol was a lights-on kind of guy, though. 

It was an instant turn-on seeing the faint blush dusting Jongin’s cheeks when Chanyeol flicked the switch on inside their dorm room. 

“Um,” Jongin said. “Do you think we could maybe not have the lights open?”

“I can’t believe I was ever pissed at you,” Chanyeol said, obliging Jongin’s request, even though he wanted nothing more than to keep seeing Jongin blushing. “You’re adorable.” 

“Told you so,” Kyungsoo said, but it wasn’t clear which of the two he was addressing. “Hold that thought.” He shot off to do some rummaging in the dark.

Kyungsoo, ever the resourceful Watcher produced some candles in record time. Chanyeol shouldn’t even be surprised anymore. Theirs was a magical dorm room, after all. Of course they would have some candles lying around somewhere. 

“Excuse me,” Chanyeol said. “I am about to do something very cheesy.” 

He snapped his fingers and the candles ignited. 

Jongin’s mouth was a perfect O as he watched the room become illuminated with a soft, cocoon-like glow. “How did you-?” 

“That was pretty impressive,” Kyungsoo said, coming up behind Jongin and hugging his waist from the back. His arms went around the boy’s stomach and started slowly lifting his shirt, planting soft kisses over the back of his neck. He made sure to catch his roommate’s eye, who in turn was watching the pair in front of him. “Did you learn to do that on your own?” 

Kyungsoo’s hands were tracing loose, lazy circles over the soft skin of Jongin’s tummy. The other boy melted in Kyungsoo’s embrace, not doing much except allowing himself to be touched everywhere by his hyung while his roommate watched. 

“You see, Jongin,” Kyungsoo said, his voice quiet and low. “Chanyeol is magical. And it’s my job to make sure-

Jongin gasped. Kyungsoo had slipped his hand inside Jongin’s pants and found his erection. 

“-that he stays a good boy,” Kyungsoo said, punctuating every word with a soft tug.  
Chanyeol was getting so hard watching Kyungsoo turn Jongin into putty. Holy shit. He had no idea Kyungsoo was really like this. 

Evil. That’s what he was.

“Magic?” Jongin was barely able to form his next words with the way he was being touched by Kyungsoo. “Was that what happened back there at the Sigma Mu house?”

“Mmmhmm,” Kyungsoo said. “He can show you more if you’d like. But first you’d have to do what he says. You can do that, right, Jongin?”

God, Kyungsoo was filthy. Chanyeol was loving it. He had pulled up a chair and had started idly touching the front of his jeans. 

“Y-yes,” Jongin said, his answer coming out in a breath. 

“I want to see the two of you kiss,” Chanyeol said, unable to stop his voice from trembling. 

Kyungso nudged Jongin forward, walking him over closer to where Chanyeol was sitting. Kyungsoo lowered himself to sit on the floor, urging Jongin to join him. Once they were comfortably settled by Chanyeol’s feet, Kyungsoo reached over and touched Jongin’s face, pulling him in closer to kiss him. 

Chanyeol leaned forward to watch Jongin’s plush lips being kissed open by Kyungsoo. They kissed slow, languid, as if Chanyeol wasn’t even there. Kyungsoo was murmuring softly to Jongin, making the boy gasp and smile into Kyungsoo’s mouth every so often. Chanyeol didn’t even need to hear what Kyungsoo was telling the other boy. 

Chanyeol was tempted to unzip and start touching himself in earnest, but even before the temptation became too much for him not to act upon, Kyungsoo brought a hand up to settle on Chanyeol’s knee. Kyungsoo broke away from kissing Jongin, and leaned in closer to his ear to whisper something to him, making Jongin raise his eyebrows and give Chanyeol a naughty little grin. 

Jongin raised up on his haunches. “Kyungsoo hyung wants me to ask you for permission to unzip you,” he said. 

Chanyeol wasn’t able to answer with words. Instead, he opened his legs wider in order for Jongin to crawl in between them. Jongin quickly got the message and slid right between Chanyeol’s legs. Kyungsoo sat back watching Jongin, his own legs bent open. It was obvious that he would also need to be unzipped very soon. 

Jongin knelt up and reached for Chanyeol’s zipper, but before he could pull it down, Chanyeol leaned forward and tilted Jongin’s face up with his fingers. “Kiss me,” he said.

Jongin didn’t need to be told twice. “Yes, hyung,” he said, meeting Chayeol’s tongue with his own, teasing the tip. Chanyeol let the boy set the pace. Jongin was so eager, yes, but he didn’t rush. Kyungsoo was right about Jongin from the beginning. He was nice, and he tasted so good. Their first kiss was delicious and uninhibited, their bottom lips barely grazing each other as only their tongues lapped over the other for a few drawn-out seconds, circling each other, the wetness of the kiss adding to their heat as their tongues curled over one another. 

Kyungsoo wanted to tell them how incredible they looked, but he didn’t want to disturb the moment. Just a few months ago, Chanyeol couldn’t stand to be near Jongin. Now he was letting Jongin suck on the tip of his tongue. It was funny how things had turned out. 

Chanyeol had grabbed hold of Jongin’s hands and put them over his bulge. Jongin took this as permission to continue what he set out to do in the first place and Kyungsoo soon heard the faint metallic rip of a zipper coming undone. 

Kyungsoo crawled over to Jongin and kneeling behind him, made to lift his shirt off his body. Chanyeol decided to help. Jongin raised his arms over his head so his hyungs could undress him. Chanyeol yanked his own shirt off in a hurry while Kyungsoo removed his. 

Kyungsoo joined Jongin in helping Chanyeol tug off his jeans so that Chanyeol was now in just his boxer briefs. His cock was tenting the front of the tight material, stretching the fabric. A patch of wetness stained the front. Kyungsoo could see the tip of his roommate’s cock straining against the band of his boxer briefs. Chanyeol pulled it off halfway down over his hips so that his erection popped out, first springing out and then bouncing back up against his tummy, leaving a patch of wet over his skin. 

Jongin gave a pleased little hum, leaning the side of his cheek against Kyungsoo’s shoulder. Kyungsoo gave Jongin’s face a gentle, affectionate pat. Whispering more instructions to Jongin, Kyungsoo snuck in little looks at his roommate, who was well on his way to being totally wrecked, the head of his cock twitching against his belly, begging for attention. 

Jongin unzipped himself and tugged off his jeans, Kyungsoo helping him get them off his legs. He was wearing tight white briefs, which Kyungsoo had also yanked right off without preamble. Chanyeol pulled off his boxer briefs completely as Jongin knelt back down to help Kyungsoo remove the rest of his clothing. 

He offered both hands to the other two and yanked them both off the floor, pulling them towards his bed, a few short steps away. 

They piled on Chanyeol’s bed in a tangle of limbs, arms, teeth and tongues. The three shortly realized that maybe they should not have been in such a hurry to get into bed because now all they wanted to do was curl up against each other and let sleep finally claim them after a long, intense, crazy, fucked up week. 

**

The Induction Ball was held two nights after the Showcase, giving enough time for everyone to rest and recover from the previous week’s activities. The event served as a wrap party, welcome party and an end-of-semester party in one. All of SMTown were in attendance, as it was the first formal party to welcome the brand new members after a job well done at the Showcase. 

Chanyeol had cleaned up nicely for the evening, taking Kyungsoo’s advice and buying an actual suit. Even his one-time lover and former Big Brother, Kris Wu had been impressed. 

“You cut a nice suit there, Chanyeol,” Kris said, as he and Baekhyun passed Chanyeol and Kyungsoo on the dance floor. “Is it bespoke?”

“Thanks, Kris,” Chanyeol said. “Nope. It’s just off the rack.” 

Kris pulled a little face that said, “touché.” Baekhyun mouthed, “Call me,” behind his boyfriend’s back.

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo both shivered in revulsion.

“Oh my gosh! Kris actually thought I was wearing couture!” Chanyeol said, when Kris was out of earshot. The thought was hilarious. 

Kyungsoo brushed off imaginary lint off Chanyeol’s shoulder as Chanyeol spun him around. “Well you do look good, you know.” 

“Aw, shucks,” Chanyeol said. “Likewise. You are the most handsome fake librarian-to-be I have ever met in my life.” 

That got him a playful kick to the shin. 

Looking at how sharply dressed Chanyeol and Kyungsoo were that night, nobody could have guessed how debauched they were the morning after the Showcase. 

The truth was, Chanyeol woke up to a lot of boy in his bed, what with Jongin sleeping soundly, smooshed between Chanyeol and Kyungsoo. One of Jongin’s muscular dancer legs was draped over Chanyeol’s. 

It was a tight, but not unpleasant way to wake up.

“Do you realize that I actually slept through sex?” Chanyeol said, twirling Kyungsoo.

“I think we all did,” Kyungsoo said. They spotted Jongin off to one side of the ballroom, busy flirting with his Big Brother Taemin. “What did you do to Jongin, Chanyeol? Look at him. He used to be so innocent!”

“Me? What about you?” Chanyeol said. “In fact, where did you hide my roommate?” 

“I think he got tired of being in the sidelines,” Kyungsoo said. “Tired of playing sidekick.” 

“Whoah,” Chanyeol said. “Hey. You were never my sidekick, Soo. In fact you’re really more like a villain.” 

“Damn right,” Kyungsoo said, suddenly manhandling Chanyeol and dipping him low in the middle of the ballroom. “I’m your villain.” 

As soon as he let Chanyeol up, Kyungsoo found himself being swept up in a tight embrace, letting his big, dumb, magical boy shower him with kisses. Kyungsoo shut his eyes in gratitude as they kissed, remembering that A good Watcher knows when to close his eyes.

Chanyeol wanted to treasure this moment, by far their most magical one yet, for a very long time.

 

END.


End file.
